Opposites Attract
by OceanSpiral
Summary: Mai and Kei are powerful elite Pokemon trainers, best friends since childhood, but they couldn't be more different. Kei is lazy and unmotivated, but a genius in battle and Mai is fierce and fiery. But what sinister scheme is Alec, Mai's brother, concocting? And how can they foil him while dealing with their struggling feelings for one another and budding romance? DISCONTINUED.
1. You Would Never Think

"You know…you spoil that Milotic way too much," Mai observed, casually sprawled against the flat surface of a raised rock, watching her best friend Kei and his beloved Milotic frolic together. "Your other Pokémon will get jealous."

"But Milotic's my _partner_!" Kei insisted, sitting down heavily, the huge dragon Pokemon Milotic weaving its sinuous cream body around him in some strange kind of dance, and making a strange purring noise. "I can't _not_ spoil her!"

Mai just looked at him, shaking her head as she watched Kei and Milotic begin to play together. Considering Kei was eighteen, he was as childish and fun loving as an eager puppy. Very rarely did he show any form of a serious nature, much preferring to spend quality time with his Pokémon than battle, like was Mai's love. But when he did battle…he was spectacular, with a seemingly flawless command over his Pokemon, able to harness each pokemon's true potential and execute beautifully captivating and devastating blows. Mai hated to admit it, but she had an insurmountable amount of respect for her best friend, but of course, he didn't have to know that!

By now, Milotic was happily splashing around in a nearby river, twisting her long serpentine body amongst the crystal clear water, its blue and pink scales glittering like previous jewels in the bright light of the sun, Kei watching on, almost proudly. It was a breathtakingly beautiful Pokemon, often described as _the _most beautiful Pokemon in existence. It's glossy and beautiful body was the fruits of Kei's labour, having raised the rare water Pokemon from a Feebas when he was nine years old after coming across it, weakened and exhausted in a stream close to his house. He took the weakened Feebas in and devotedly nursed it back to health and formed a close bond with it. By the time Kei was of age to begin his Pokemon journey, he had already raised it to evolve into a stunningly beautiful Milotic, and as such, spurned the opportunity of a starter Pokemon and set out on his journey with his beloved Milotic.

Mai smiled to herself as she reminisced about the past. Nine years had passed since Kei had embarked on his Pokemon journey with his Milotic. In the beginning, Kei had chosen to not train his Feebas to fight, and after evolving it to Milotic, it had no major battle experience, leaving Kei at a disadvantage. That's where Mai had come in.

Mai came from a family of highly experienced, elite trainers. Her mother had been champion, her father, although now deceased had been a member of the Elite Four in his heyday, her older brother had taken on the champions of every region, and her little sister had risen to fame, winning ribbon after ribbon in contests. So it was fair to say, battling was in her blood. However being part of such a devoted battle heavy family held its disadvantages too. Mai had not returned home in years, and her relationships with her family were not good, especially with her 23 year old brother. Their relationship could be described as "frosty" at best. But then again, that was only to be expected. Mai's grandfather had been central in developing local gyms, and as a child, she had spent more time engaging in the battlefield than at home with her family. By the time she came to pick her first Pokemon, she had already had more battle experience than all the other rookies put together. She had picked a Charmander for her starting Pokemon, barely even caring about the extreme type disadvantage she would face for the first two Gym Battles, or the somewhat disobedient and difficult nature Charmanders often displayed to inexperienced rookies. She relished the ideas of a challenge!

For her, receiving her first Pokemon was more than a momentous occasion. The year she had spent without Kei, her best friend, at her side had resulted in a deep sense of loneliness as well as a heated jealousy at him owning a Pokemon before she did. She also couldn't understand his unwillingness to train his Milotic when they were at home, and was somewhat intrigued as to whether or not he had grown strong as a Pokemon trainer. She resented the idea that he would be so far ahead of her while she was stuck at home, simply waiting.

As it turned out, she didn't have much to worry about.

When she finally came of age and obtained her Charmander, she already knew what to do. For once, thoughts of battling and gym badges were put on hold and her first instinct was to find Kei. She expected not to find him for ages, imagining (and somewhat dreading) that he had already moved on to exciting distant lands, but upon her arrival in Viridian City, she could find no trace of him or any record of him challenging the Gym Leader. Confused, she and her Charmander battled on and reached Pewter City. It was there she found him. Resting in the Pokemon centre, playing carelessly with his Milotic, he had captured no other Pokemon nor gained any Gym Badges.

Mai, who had filled her six Pokeball slots with the typical rookie Pokemon and was intent on beating Brock, the Pewter City gym leader, was enraged. She had taken the childish, rather lazy Kei and beat him into shape, coaxing him to catch other Pokemon than Milotic and take the plunge into battling. It was then she realised something amazing. Kei had little motivation to train and no interest in battle, but when forced into it, he was incredible. His instincts were spot on every time and his commands were executed perfectly. With sadness, she realised that if anyone would ever become an elite trainer like she dreamed of, it would more likely be Kei. But soon she learned that battling wasn't everything, and was able to become more at one with her Pokemon, gaining their trust and love. She did not battle for over a year when she was thirteen, and discovered when faced with a group of Pokemon thieves, not only could she battle, but she was far better than anything she could have imagined. And it was all, really, thanks to Kei.

Mai leant back lazily as she watched Kei wade into the water with Milotic, who promptly splashed him with a small wave of water as a means of showing affection. Mai couldn't help it and let out a roar of laughter as Kei splashed to the river bank, soaking wet, but laughing and grinning along. This was typical Kei; he hadn't changed in the nine years of his journey. He was still a happy, cheerful fun loving character, so like a child in many ways.

"You know, with the way you act, no-one would think you were an Elite." Mai laughed, stretching her limbs, enjoying the gentle warmth the sun bathed them in. "You're more like a little seven year old kid."

Kei laughed sheepishly. "Appearances can be deceiving?" he offered. "Besides, you're an Elite too!"

"At least I act like one!"

"What? All moody and serious and sarcastic all the time?" Kei teased, and promptly earned himself a swift smack on the back of the head. "Owwwww!" He whined, holding his head, retreating behind Milotic's large sea serpent like body. "Milotic! She's being mean to me!"

"Eh?" Mai gasped, as Milotic's normally tender eyes narrowed into what anyone would say was "pissed off" mode. "Oh, sure! Land me in it! Hey, Milotic…" she gulped nervously as a giant wall of water suddenly rose from the nearby riverbank. "Wh…what exactly are you gonna do with that-WAAAAAAGH!"

Before Mai even knew what had happened, she had been swept off her feet from the force of the giant wave and found herself upended in the middle of the river, amid manic laughing courtesy of Kei. Righting herself furiously, Mai screamed at Kei, soaking wet and dripping, exactly like him. "What the hell was that for? Why'd you make Milotic do that? I looked like a fool!"

"Hey, it wasn't me that did it!" Kei snorted. "Milotic did it herself!"

Mai turned a furious eye on Milotic who was innocently swishing her scaly tail back and forth, her eyes glittering, as if butter wouldn't melt. Just as Mai's anger began to ebb away and she was beginning to see the funny side, a long forked tongue slid out of Milotic's mouth in sheer defiance or in layman's terms, an _up yours. _Mai saw red. Her hand flew to her belt and she grabbed a Pokeball. "I'll show you!" She bellowed, deftly throwing the Pokeball in front of her. "Let's go, Gyarados!"

With a flash of light and an incredible roar, a huge serpent like Pokemon was sitting in the lake, dwarfing Mai's already tiny 5"2 figure. The Gyarados even exceeded the huge Milotic in size. Kei laughed nervously in the face of the vicious Pokemon whose blue serpentine body was accented with a huge blue crest, a gaping mouth with rows and rows of jaws and a fierce look in its beady eye. But that was nothing compared to the look of sheer anger that was rapidly spreading across Mai's face. He was far more scared of his best friend than _any_ Pokemon or _any _seemingly unbeatable trainer.

"Now, Mai…" He said warily, backing away, Milotic cowering slightly behind him. "L…let's not do anything hasty!"

"Gyarados! _Use surf!_"

"Oh motherf—"

Accompanied by a fierce roar from the immense figure that was Gyarados, the giant dragon, who by the way could barely even fit in the lake, swelled the surrounding waters and moulded it into a huge wave, at least three times the size of the one Milotic had and slammed it straight into Kei and Milotic. Satisfied with her handiwork, Mai stood back to admire the view of a completely drenched Kei struggle to his feet, not even noticing the lake being a good few feet shallower or half of their supplies now drifting casually down the rapids.

"Mwahahaha!" she laughed, calling Gyarados back into its Pokeball and making her way onto the somewhat dry land towards Kei.

"Wasn't that a little overkill?" He asked, shaking his head like a dog to get most of the water out of his hair. "Gyarados is huge!"

"Are you kidding me?" Mai demanded. "Milotic is just about the same size as Gyarados, what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, but Milotic held back!" Kei insisted. Milotic nodded its head in agreement, its long red eyebrows bobbing up and down with it, scattering huge water droplets everywhere. "You didn't bother telling Gyarados to go easy on me!"

"I know, right?" Mai shrugged and giggled and turned around to pick up her bag at the makeshift camp they had set up and stopped. Her bag was gone. In fact, the entire CAMP was gone. "Uwaaaaaaaah! Kei! The camp is gone!"

"I'm not surprised!" Kei said, surprisingly unconcerned. "Gyarados is too strong to use its powers for getting revenge on me!"

"But our potions!" Mai fretted. "Our spare Pokeballs! Our sleeping bags! Our clothes! Our food! Kei, what will we do?"

Kei looked at her confused and with all the innocence of a little boy suggested. "Why not swim and catch them?"

"Are you insane!" She demanded. "There could be all sorts of dangerous things in there! For all you know there could be a waterfall at the end and I could be swept to my _death_!" she cried dramatically.

Kei just looked at her and scratched his nose.

"Kei!" Mai pleaded. "We'll lose everything! You have to go and get it!"

Still he said nothing.

"Kei! You'll lose your_ chocolate_! Your whole month's supply!" Mai pleaded with him, grabbing him by the neck and shaking him.

"My…..chocolate?" A different look came over Kei's face. "My chocolate?"

"Yes!"

"Outta my way!" Kei said, sweeping her aside like a man possessed. "Milotic! Come on!" He clambered up onto the creamy dragon pokemon's back and instructed it to dive into the water. With an almighty splash, they were streamlining through the water and soon disappeared into the distance after the supplies. Mai chuckled to herself, sat down and made herself comfortable.

A short time later, she heard Milotic's distinctive cry and saw the serpent like body weaving through the water, climbing onto shore to allow Kei to dismount. He practically fell off of Milotic, dripping wet and panting, his arms filled with their supplies. His feet barely touched the ground, everything spilling out.

"Wh…where's my chocolate…My precious chocolate…" he gasped, wheezing, pulling open every bag he could find. When he had searched through each bag, but found nothing, he looked at Mai with a sad face and puppy dog eyes. "Mai…there's no chocolate. Where's my chocolate? There's no chocolate, do you hear me?"

"Oh, I know." Mai said, matter-of-factly unfolding their clothes and sleeping bags to dry. "I lied. Don't you remember you ate the last of it yesterday?"

"Eh….why did you lie to me?" Kei said, sniffing.

"Heh heh…" Mai grinned. "Cos I didn't fancy getting wet again…"

"Maaaaaaii!" Kei let out a wail. "I hate you!"

"I know," she said with a shrug, then chuckled to herself. "_Works every time._"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Well, here we go! This is a story I thought up with a good mate of mine. It's similar in places, but at the same time, very different to my story "Spirited"**

**Please read and review! Both me and my friend are looking forward to reading reviews!**


	2. Beedrill Bedlam

After their gear successfully dried, which didn't take long considering the hot weather, Mai and Kei began travelling to the next city. They had heard rumours of a Pokemon contest where some of the world's best trainers were attending in a city called Hearthome and although Kei wasn't eager to enter, Mai was.

They would need to travel for some time, through a lot of other cities and towns, but first, they had to make their way through Eterna Forest. Mai had eventually persuaded Kei to return Milotic to its PokeBall for the duration of the trip, conscious of the limited space they had to travel amongst the low hanging trees, and not wanting to draw attention to themselves. The friends had long since left their home region of Kanto, having successfully built their reputations up to Elite status, both having conquered the Elite Four and Mai even successfully beat the Champion at the tender age of 15. However, she did not remain Champion for long as she felt constricted by the constant battling with mediocre challengers and being forced to remain in one place all the time. Two years later, she did not regret her decision. She loved the sense of achievement she gained and the recognition and status from being the Champion, but she belonged on the road, training with Kei and meeting new people and Pokemon.

"Hey…" A thought struck Kei as they moved along. They had not been in this new region for very long, but he was definitely someone who did not appreciate the celebrity status he often was "victim" to back home. "You don't think anyone here will recognise us…do you?"

"Of course not!" Mai said at once. "We're hundreds, almost _thousands_ of miles away from when we beat the Elite Four. Besides, that was two years ago! People don't have _that _good a memory!"

"I hate the fangirls…" Kei whimpered.

"What fangirls?"

"The ones that mobbed me while we were waiting for the ferry over here to Sinnoh!" Kei shuddered at the memory. "There were so many! They were clamouring!" he put on an overly high pitched voice "Ooooh, you're the one who took out the Elite Four with _just _your Milotic, aren't you?" Eeeeyaaah! I have never been so scared!"

"Uh-huh…and where was I at this time?"

"Huh?" He looked at her. "I think you were off beating some guy up because he thought you were an elementary school kid!"

"Oh yeah!" The memory came back to Mai in an instant and once again she cursed her tiny stature and young looking features. "Can't _believe _he thought I was an elementary school kid!"

"Yeah, and _I_ can't believe what you did after that!"

"What?"

"You ripped your shirt open in front of everyone and screamed "Look! I have _boobs_! What elementary school kid has _boobs!_" Don't you remember? Everyone on the boat was staring at us!"

"Oh yeah…" Mai remembered. "I guess that was a bad idea…"

"Bad idea? You had practically every single guy and every singe sailor on that ship following you around wolf whistling through the entire journey!"

"Oh, please…" She brushed it off. "You're such a prude."

Kei deflated.

"So, you seriously got mobbed by fangirls?"

"Yeah!" he shouted, waving his arms dramatically. "They were totally _weird_! I mean, yeah sure, we probably made the local news when we defeated the Elite Four and became Elites ourselves, but that was two years ago, like you said! How do they still know who we are?"

"Come on, Kei. I'm an ex-Champion and you're the guy that took down the Elite Four with _one _Pokemon. People probably did hear about us."

"I'll be so glad to find a place where no-one knows who we are!" Kei said gleefully, letting out a noisy yawn and stretching his arms. "Nothing to do here but relax, meet interesting people and play with Pokemon!"

Mai laughed, shaking her head. "Well _I _am gonna take the opportunity to find new opponents! I wanna see what the competition here is like!"

"Oh, you're kiddin' me?" Kei groaned. "I am _not _going through that "beat all the gym leaders then challenge the Pokemon league" stuff again! Besides, I thought you _hated _being the Champion?"

"I didn't _hate _it." Mai phrased herself delicately. "I know this is gonna sound all arrogant and big-headed, but… I liked being the best! I liked that I was strong enough to beat all those incredible trainers!"

"I sense a "but" here."

"Oh come on, Kei, you know why I gave it up!" Mai cried. "I mean, it was great and all, but…I couldn't _go _anywhere. Aside from going out to train I had to stay in that little room all the time waiting for challengers! And even when I did get challenged…most of them were just arrogant idiots who just wanted to show off their own strength and win win win all the time! I had only just managed to get out of that frame of thinking myself! It was suffocating. I had to get out! I missed being out on the road with my Pokemon being able to do what I wanted _when _I wanted…and I guess…" her cheeks reddened uncharacteristically. "I guess I missed _you _too, Kei."

"…."

There was a long, painful silence.

"Kei?"

She turned around trying to figure out what had caused this sudden silence from her best friend in the face of such a rare display off her emotions, and then stopped in shock, her mouth hanging open.

"Look, Mai!" Not ten feet away from her, Kei was sitting crouched down in front of a nest, many eager looking Caterpie and Weedle Pokemon crawling all over his body and a look of intense glee on his face. "They like me!"

"What the _hell _do you think you're _doing_?"

"I'm playing with them!"

But she didn't have time to puzzle over it as a sudden, incessant buzzing sound sounded out from the depths of the woods. Mai recognised it at once and immediately began backing away. "Kei…" she murmured worriedly, noticing her friend totally oblivious to the ominous sounds coming from behind him. "Kei!" she said, this time louder. "I think it would be better if…"

"Huh?" he looked up at her, rather gormlessly, still playing with the Weedle and Caterpie. "What's the matter?"

The buzzing was getting louder. Mai looked terrified. Kei looked confused.

"That's buh…buh….buh…" she could barely get her words out.

There was a sudden rustling in the nearby bushes and trees and suddenly the place was alive with loud drones and hums, and then the immediate area was filled with vicious looking yellow and black striped bee Pokemon, with two vicious stingers.

"BEEDRILL!" Mai screamed, and ignoring all common sense, grabbed Kei by the arm, scattering the Weedles and Caterpies, and took off as fast as her short legs would allow her. The Beedrill however, gave chase.

"Where did they all come from?" Kei asked, almost casually as the two of them were chased through the forest.

"Does it matter? Just run!" Mai screeched, almost skidding and slipping on the wet carpet of leaves under their feet.

"We can't outrun these Beedrill!" Kei stated, rather matter-of-factly as he ducked from an incoming attack.

"We can bloody well try!" Mai screamed out. "I _hate _bees!"

"Oh come on, they're not that bad! They're actually kinda—YEOUCH!" He let out a shout of pain as one of the Beedrill's alarmingly large stingers dug into his left arm.

"Kei!" Mai cried, turning to see if her friend was all right. It was the wrong move. Taking advantage of their sudden stop, the Beedrill swarmed around them, completely cutting off escape from all possible routes.

Mai swore. "We'll never get out of here! We're trapped!"

"We'll have to battle our way out…what a drag…" Kei said unenthusiastically, almost resignedly reaching for a Poke Ball at his waist. "Let's go, Ninetails!"

"Ninetails!" Mai gasped as the fox like Pokemon appeared in a flash of blinding white light. The fox Pokemon was covered in thick, luxurious golden white fur with a tail spanning out into nine orange tipped segments, a beautiful Pokemon but it was also a particularly powerful fire type. And Mai didn't think that mixing such deadly fire attacks with a tight enclosed space filled with leaves and trees and other flammable objects could _ever _mix well. "Are you _insane_? Ninetails is a _fire _type! You'll set the whole place alight!"

"Ninetails, use ember to shoot them down!"

A thin stream of fire burst from Ninetails' mouth and slammed into one of the offending Beedrill, sending it flying back into a tree. Mai screeched as the Beedrill, angered by the attack on one of its swarm, dove towards them.

"Ninetails! Use fire spin!"

Mai dove to the ground as an intense burst of heat erupted around them, a wheel of flame circling them, successfully damaging the Beedrill enough to send them flitting away, too injured to battle. Mai cautiously removed her arms from over her head and looked up to see Kei in front of her proudly embrace his Ninetails, praising her for her good work…and flames licking a cluster of trees immediately behind him.

"Holy f—" She screamed, scrambling to her feet. "Oi, Flameboy!"

Ninetails and Kei both turned to her, fixing her with identical "huh?" looks, completely unaware of the fire spreading up the bark of the trees behind them.

"You know, just in case you hadn't noticed… those bloody trees are on fire!"

"Wha…?" Kei turned casually to his side, and then his eyes bulged in shock as he saw the orange flames crackling at the base of the trees! "Oh my God!" he gasped, clearing about six feet in one giant leap in his effort to get away. "FIRE!"

"No shit, Sherlock…"

"Quick! Quick! We gotta put it out!" Kei flapped, and by this time he had ducked behind Mai, looking terrified. "I know, use Gyarados?"

Mai had lost count of how many times she had used this phrase in Kei's general direction. "Are you insane?" she bellowed. "Gyarados won't _fit_ in here!" she waved her arms around to illustrate her point, almost being able to touch the trees from both ends of the tiny clearing. "We can barely fit in here! And _neither_ can Milotic!" she warned him as his hand went to the top Poke Ball on his belt.

"Well, what are we gonna do!" he was practically jumping up and down screaming in his panic. "We can't let the whole place go up!"

"I can't do anything!" Mai insisted. "I don't have any Pokemon that can help! Gyarados is too big!"

"WAIT!" Kei shouted, as if some kind of cartoon lightbulb came over his head. His hand once again flew to the topmost Pokeball. "I've got it!"

"You can't use Milotic; she's too big!" Mai screamed again.

Kei winced and deflated again.

"Hell, what are we gonna do?" Mai panicked. "We can't just run off and leave the fire; all the Pokemon will get hurt! And I don't have any water Pokemon small enough to fit in the little space we have!"

"Waaaaait!" Kei suddenly interjected. "I can use—"

"For the last time! You _cannot _use Milotic!"

"I wasn't going to!" he insisted, unhooking a Poke Ball from his belt. He squashed himself as close as he could against the clearing to create maximum space. Mai looked at him in complete confusion and then back at the rapidly spreading fire, praying that Kei would make an intelligent decision. "_Maybe I was giving him too much credit about him being a genius on the battlefield! Maybe he really IS an idiot!"_

"Dragonite!" Kei threw his Poke Ball into the limited clearing space. "Let's do this!"

A Pokemon that resembled a bipedal European dragon, coloured orange with a pair of tiny green wings, an S shaped antennae and a cream striated underbelly burst out of the Pokeball. It was an incredibly rare pokemon and also exceedingly powerful, with sharply pointed claws and a horn on its forehead. Kei had a fondness for dragon Pokemon and made no secret of his adoration for both Mai's Charizard and Gyarados, her dragon Pokemon, and also doted on his Dragonite.

Kei's Dragonite, by the way, was something of a "trump card" for Kei when he was in battle and was his penultimate defence before he was forced to see Milotic in battle. Mai could count on one hand the number of trainers good enough to see his Dragonite in battle.

"Dragonite!" Kei's commanding voice rose above the sounds of crackling flames. "Use Water Pulse to put those flames out!"

With an almighty roar, a torrent of water blasted from Dragonite's mouth, easily swamping the offending flames. However...

"Hey, look! I cleared us a path!"

"You _idiot_! You just knocked down half the forest!"

"Ahahahaha….ooops." Kei laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, trying to feign innocence, standing in front of what could only be described as pure destruction. Trees had been blasted straight through or knocked down for at least a quarter of a mile. Mai couldn't even see where the devastation ended; it was so dark against the horizon.

"You…._idiot_!"

"You know, if I had a penny for every time you called me that…" he mused.

"You just single-handedly _destroyed _half the forest!"

"We stopped the fire, didn't we? Eh, Dragonite?" A goofy grin spread across Kei's face as he scratched the appreciative Dragonite's nose. "Guess you don't know your own strength, eh little buddy?"

"I actually can't take any more of this!" Mai turned on her heel and began stomping through the path of destruction Kei's energetic Dragonite had caused. "I HOPE YOU GET EATEN BY A PACK OF WILD VICTREEBELL!"

"But they don't even _have _Victreebell here! Hmm… Do they? Huh? Mai! Where are you going? Come back! Come baaaaaack! This place is scary!"

Unbeknownst to them, a figure stepped out from behind a cluster of trees into the now practically destroyed clearing. He surveyed his surroundings with much interest, watching the rapidly disappearing trainers head further and further into the forest, the boy's loud hollers and the girl's bellowed threats echoing all around him.

"_Hmph. Well this just complicates matters. Pah! The girl herself is a formidable opponent, no questions there…but her little friend could be trouble. And that Dragonite. That thing packs a punch." _he looked at the line of destroyed trees stretching as far as the eye could see. "_If I'm gonna apprehend that kid like the boss wants…I'm gonna have to be a lot more careful about it…"_

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Yay! A plot emerges! Haha! Well, I'll leave you with this for now. I won't be making updating this one my top priority, but I will try to update when I can.**

**I hope you like this story! Read and review please!**


	3. The Man in White

Mai's temper had still not improved by the time she had found her way out the forest and there was a stony silence between her and a sheepish Kei. A short walk later and they arrived in Eterna City, a city shrouded in culture and which housed many popular attractions, namely the Eterna Gym headed by the grass Pokemon lover Gardenia, as well as a local museum, bike shop and magnificent if not slightly aged Pokemon statue to the far east of town. First, the two friends sought the local Pokemon centre and healed their Pokemon, before heading to a place to eat. The prospect of food excited Mai out of her silence and she successfully managed to shovel more food down her neck that should _ever _be thought possible of a girl her (tiny) size.

"Aaaah…" Mai sighed appreciatively. "That was sooooo good!"

"Where_ do_ you put all that food, Mai?" Kei asked in wonder, looking at her numerous empty plates. "There's nothing on you!"

"You're not exactly Mr Muscle yourself, Kei." Mai chuckled, eyeing Kei's tall and skinny body up and down.

"I'm not even kiddin'; I mean with all the food you eat, you should be MUCH taller than you are!"

A well aimed kick under the table quickly shut Kei up and Mai discreetly paid the bill, having won a hefty sum of prize money aboard the ferry that had taken them from Hoenn to Sinnoh, battling a few sailors. Bellies satisfyingly full, the pair of friends stopped briefly to pick up supplies for the trip ahead in the local Poke Mart and then carried on their way.

"Okaaaaay, according to this map…" Kei studied the map intensely as the pair of them made their way across the main path of Eterna City, effortlessly dodging other people making their way in and out the city. "Says we have to go north for ages down Route nine oh-something, then make a west turn to Hearthome city!"

"Route Nine-oh-something? That doesn't sound right!" Mai said, turning to face her companion dilly-dallying behind her. Her jaw dropped. "You _idiot_! You're reading that upside down!" She snapped, grabbing the rustling map from him. "We go _south_ down route _two hundred and six_! And then we—oh." She stopped in her tracks as she read the little footnote.

"Oh? What's "oh"?" Kei dodged around her, trying to see what she was looking at.

"Says here Route 206 is also known as Cycling Road."

"Cycling Road?"

"Yeah! As in you have to have a bike to even be _allowed _on it."

"Awwww!" Kei whined. "I don't wanna ride a bike!"

"We haven't got much of a choice!" Mai cursed as a sudden gust of wind threatened to tear the unwieldy map from her hands. "Unless _you_ want to scale that stupid Mount Coronet we're taking_ bikes_!"

"B…but we don't _have _bikes!" Kei felt the need to point out the obvious.

"I know…" Mai sighed, exasperated. "Look, there was a bike shop somewhere back in Eterna City, right? We'll go back there and get bikes."

"But what's the point in spending all that money to get bikes when we're never going to _use _them again! I'm not lugging one of them around forever!"

Mai exhaled deeply. "Okay, fine. You have a point. I don't really like bikes anyway. So, what should we do? I mean, look at this map. Even if we _could _get through Mt Coronet, look how many different cities and towns we have to travel through!"

Kei looked at them and decisively shook his head. "Nah. No way. Heeeey! I know! How about if—"

"Kei, wait a minute…" Mai interjected. "Before you go any further…I want you to think _real hard _about what it is you're gonna say. Okay? Keeping in mind, that if you do say something stupid…" she held up a Pokeball from her belt. "I will get Rhydon to personally chase you halfway across this region."

Kei laughed nervously, put his hand on Mai's outstretched Pokeball and gently lowered it down to what he deemed as a safer height. "Listen. Why don't we just _fly _over Cycling Road? The people that own the road don't own the _air_! Come on, it'll be fun!" Kei added, grinning, noticing Mai's face slowly twist into an unfavourable grimace. "We haven't done any flying in ages! Dragonite and Charizard would love getting to fly in all the fresh air and sunshine!"

"Kei…" Mai breathed out, visibly trying to restrain her infamous temper. The PokeBall was lowered back to her waist, luckily for Kei. "I thought the idea here was to not draw attention to ourselves?"

Kei looked at her. "Yeaaaah…?"

"Well, how are two trainers _flying _in the air on the back of a _Charizard _and a _Dragonite _equal to "not drawing attention" to ourselves?"

Kei shrugged. "I don't know."

"Kei, do you _see _any trainers _flying_ around here?" she waved her arms at the sky, a brilliant vibrant blue, unblemished apart from a few wisps of fluffy cloud.

There were no signs of life in the sky, however as they stood there, a bunch of trainers zipped by on their flashy bikes, ringing those obnoxious bells loudly and laughing. A steady flow of people, both trainers and locals were coming in and out the city, going about their business.

"I guess not…" Kei admitted.

"Exactly!"

"I still say we should do it."

"Eh?"

"Awwww, come on!" he pleaded. "It's been ages since we flew anywhere! You made us come _here _on the stupid ferry! We didn't even get to travel on the backs of Gyarados and Milotic!"

"Kei, there's no point in flying anywhere. We miss so much when we're up in the air! You know, all the battles, the people! We don't get any of that in the air!"

"Oh, come on! Please! Just this once! Please, please, please! I'll be your best friend?"

Mai looked into Kei's pleading, puppy-dog eyes and let out an exasperated sigh of defeat. "Fine!" she relented, pointedly ignoring the loud cheers from Kei _and _the odd looks that came subsequent from the passers-by.

"I love it!" Kei cheered, punching the air. "We get to fly again!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too excited. If we get mobbed by rookie trainers wanting to see our Pokemon like we did in Hoenn, I'm blaming you!"

Kei barely even heard her as he had long since taken off looking for a suitable spot to release his Dragonite. Mai shook her head, consulted the map one more time to check how long Cycling Road actually went on for, folded the map into her bag and made her way to where Kei was standing. He had picked a slightly secluded area, protected by coverings of trees and leafy bushes.

"Okay, here should be fine! It's quite well hidden, so no-one will see us since you're so scared about being seen!" Kei grinned.

"Hey, _you _were the one that was terrified of the fangirls!"

Kei shuddered visibly at the mention of the word "fangirls". He carelessly loosened a PokeBall from his belt and let out his Dragonite. It roared in appreciation at being let out into the fresh air, startling a few passers-by at the sudden noise from no apparent source. Rather panicked, Mai tried to hush the Dragonite. But she thought better of it and instead stood back, allowed Kei to scramble onto his Pokemon's back and released her own Pokemon.

"Come out, Charizard!"

A burst of bright light and seconds later, Mai's trusted Charizard was in place of the Pokeball. Charizard was the third and final evolution of her first ever Pokemon, the Charmander she had obtained as a rookie. It had a very dragon like appearance, was mostly orange in colour, besides its wings and had a flame burning on its long tail. Its claws were viciously sharp, as were its horns.

"Hey," Mai gave her Charizard a few berries from her bag. "Fancy a bit of flying?"

Charizard nodded its head eagerly and turned around, allowing Mai to rather ungracefully clamber onto its back. However, before the two trainers could even give their Pokemon the orders to fly, a huge rumbling shook the area around them, causing both trainers to fall unceremoniously to the ground.

"What…the hell was that?" Mai demanded, having landed on her backside, was not amused, to say the least.

"I don't know…" Kei's voice was slightly more muffled, accompanied with a low groan, having landed on his face.

Mai looked up amid another violent rumbling that shook the ground, almost to its core, she felt. Behind them, Charizard and Dragonite bayed unhappily, clearly not comfortable. Around them, people were screaming things like "earthquake" and "we're all gonna die!" It was panic.

Suddenly there was a loud boom, like an explosive device had been set off and the immediate area was filled with thick, heavy inky-black smoke. At first, Mai tried to hold her breath, but it was useless and she ended up inhaling vast quantities of it. It made her cough and splutter. She found it difficult to breathe. She tried to move, but it was as if her body was held by some invisible force, like ropes were tied tight around her body, crushing her.

Fear gripped her like an icy hand around her heart. "Kei?" she called out for her friend. "KEI! CHARIZARD!"

But she could not see them. Nor hear them. Her breathing became laboured; the force of whatever was holding her soon began to grow intensely painful. Her limbs burned with the solid force. She tried to scream out for Kei, Charizard, Dragonite, anyone… but the words only came out in the merest croaks.

And just when she thought she could bear it no longer.

"Well, well, well…What _do _we have here?"

The sound of a deep, cultured, sonorous voice startled her, panic surging through her veins. The smoke slowly began to clear, but Mai could not move her head to look for Kei or the Pokemon. Instead all she could see was three figures moving towards her.

"Wh…what's going on here?" Mai managed to shout out as the smoke cleared and she could see the faces of her three captors.

One of them was a tall human, at least six foot tall with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, dressed all in shades of white and grey. His skin was lightly tanned, providing an attractive contrast to the white he was wearing. Even his _shoes _were gleaming white. Mai supposed he could have been very handsome…were it not for the fact his face was twisted into a malicious grin. On his left side was a Pokemon bigger than Mai herself. She recognised it immediately as Gardevoir.

"_That explains this weird force holding me!" _She thought quickly. "_She must be using Psychic on me!_"

The Gardevoir resembled a ballroom dancer, with a huge head and tiny facial features. It had a frail, featureless physique. It seemed to glide, not walk, and did not take its eyes off its trainer, as if it was some adoring fan watching her beloved idol. She did not even seem bothered at the order to keep a human being secured using her powers.

"_Of course! Gardevoir are always loyal to their trainer! Even…even if the trainer is making it use its powers for evil!"_

The pokemon on the mysterious man in white's right side was unfamiliar to Mai. It was a huge, bulky Pokemon looking like a cross between a Tricerotops and a bulldozer. Its face looked like a giant shield spotted with yellow dots, its feet were protected by shield like growths and it had a series of ridges across its back. It looked formidable and Mai could only assume that it was responsible for the sudden earthquake that had struck.

"Let me go!" Mai tried to struggle, but the Gardevoir's psychic attack held fast. "Who even ARE you?"

The man in white chuckled. He fixed his cold green eyes on Mai, sending a violent involuntary shudder down her spine. "That's not important in the grand scheme of things. Problem is, I've got a job to do. And what do you know, you're essential to its completion. So how about you just shut up and make this easy for me."

"Go to hell!" Mai spat, sounding a lot more confident than she felt.

The man laughed outrageously. "Hah! Oh, kid, you've got some spunk. Too bad. I may have to _squash _it outta you. Or…maybe I could just get my Bastiodon to do it for me?" the bulky Pokemon with the shield for a face roared and stamped its feet, sending violent tremours through the earth. "After all… I don't like to get my hands dirty."

Mai let out a roar of frustration. "_What is going ON? Where IS everyone_?" her eyes darted nervously around her surroundings. The earth had been torn up and everything was silent apart from the low growling of the strange pokemon Bastiodon. She still couldn't see Kei, Charizard and Dragonite. "_Does he have them in Gardevoir's grasp too? No…I would have heard them shouting! Where are they?_!"

"What have you done with my friend? The Pokemon!" Mai demanded.

The man looked at her and held his hands up with innocence. "A simple Hypnosis, nothing more. My Gardevoir here is a bit of an expert," he flashed a menacing grin in his Gardevoir's direction. "Anyway, enough of this…" He said, cutting Mai off before she could say anything else. He moved close to her until he was standing directly above her, his cold eyes boring straight into her. "I have my orders. Come on, you are coming with me."

"No! NO!" Mai screamed as the man in white reached out to grab her by the shoulders. She couldn't even struggle as his white gloved hands dug into her flesh. "Let me go! LET ME—"

"Ninetails! Use Fire Blast, now!"

A sudden blast of white hot heat and fire slammed into the Gardevoir responsible for the binding Psychic attack. Taken completely by surprise, the Gardevoir took the full brunt of the attack, the power behind it sending its fragile body hurtling backwards into the trees. Immediatley Mai felt the constraints of her binds slacken and release and she was able to rip the hands of the distracted man from her shoulders. She shot backwards, still on her backside and found herself being hauled up.

"Kei?" she gasped, looking at the face of her rescuer.

"That's me!" he winked, amid roars of relief from Dragonite and Charizard.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but the man in white was enraged at the sudden attack on his Gardevoir and immediately ordered his Bastiodon into battle. Mai thought fast and sized up the unfamiliar pokemon. "_It's obviously a rock type since it knows Earthquake. That could be a problem…But…that shield type thing on its face. Could it be a steel type too? Hmm…this is difficult._"

"Mai, come on!" Kei swiftly recalled his Ninetails. He gave a short order to both Dragonite and Charizard to get into position and the two Pokemon willingly flew to face the growling Bastiodon. "Tag battle! You and me!"

Mai looked at him, still somewhat in shock. The mysterious man in white recalled his Gardevoir, looking seriously annoyed. He ordered his Bastidon to battle, then produced another Pokeball from his belt.

"You little brats!" he spat, throwing his pokeball into the makeshif arena. "Take 'em down, Garchomp!"

Another Pokemon appeared in a blast of white light. Both Mai and Kei were taken aback at the man in white's unfamiliar choice. The Pokemon resembled a strange sort of cross between a dragon and a hammerhead shark. Mai couldn't help but think that the presence of its long fins made it look kind of like a jet.

"Don't suppose you know what that Pokemon IS, do you?" Mai hissed to Kei as the two teams of Pokemon eyed each other up.

"No idea…" Kei shrugged.

"Oh well…" Mai sighed.

"Now!" the man in white bellowed. "Now you'll pay, you foolish boy, for interrupting my business with the girl! Once I defeat you, I'll be taking her to my boss!"

"Hah!" A strange look had appeared in Kei's normally cheerful eyes. Mai recognsied it at once. That was the look of a true genius in battle. The look of someone who was powerful beyond belief. "If you want the girl, you're gonna have to go through me first! Dragonite! Use Water Pulse now!"

Mai hadn't expected the battle to start as quickly as it did and quickly ordered Charizard to fly into the air, suddenly afraid he would get in the way of the huge torrrent of water that erupted from Dragonite's mouth.

"Uh?" the man in white was so taken aback he didn't have time to instruct his Pokemon to move.

However, in a stunning display of agility, the Garchomp spread its dorsal fins and flew into the air! Mai was stunned! She hadn't expected it to know how to fly! However, the mysterious man's Bastiodon was not as luckly. It was clumsy and slow moving and couldn't evade the blast of water. It was hit full force, knocking it back, just missing bowling over its trainer in the proccess.

Mai took advantage of the momentary distraction that ailed the man in white. "Charizard! Take down that Garchomp with Dragon Claw!"

Charizard's vicious claws glowed white and with stunning speed, effortlessly caught up with the Garchomp. With a roar, he raked and slashed his claws across the Garchomp's red underbelly. Mai didn't expect the effect that came afterwards. As soon as the claws made contact, the Garchomp let out a howl of pain, its defence broken through and was sent flying through the air.

"Ch….Charizard!" Mai was still reeling slightly from the effectiveness of the move. "Use Iron Tail to finish it off!"

Charizard flapped its enourmous wings and swiftly got behind the Garchomp, still feeling the effects from the previous attack. Its tail glowed a brilliant white before he effortlessly, gracefully turned in the air and slammed his tail down into the back of the Garchomp. A direct hit.

The Garchomp let out a howl of pain that even despite Mai's better instincts, tugged pitifully at her heartstrings. The Garchomp fell a good twenty feet and slammed into the churned up earth, directly at its trainer's feet.

"Gah! You worthless idiot!" The trainer screamed, kicking the Pokemon hard in the ribs. Luckily the Pokemon was unconcious or else it would have screamed with the pain. Mai watched in horror and disbelief, before she felt white hot rage bubbling through her.

"You…you MONSTER!" she exploded. "How could you treat your Pokemon like that?"

"They're _my _Pokemon and I'll treat them however I want to!" the man spat, emotionlessly returning the Garchomp to its Pokeball. "They're just tools to be used at my disposal, nothing more!"

"How can you even say that?" She was aware of Kei's hands on her arm, holding her back from throwing herself bodily at the man. "Pokemon are our trusted _friends, _you can't treat them like that!"

"Pah! Friends, eh? How laughable! Pokemon are just tools for trainers to become strong, nothing more! And weak Pokemon deserved to be punished!"

Mai seriously felt like she was going to be sick. She couldn't believe the cruelty and evil emanating from this man. "You…you're a horrible man!"

"Perhaps," the man said snidely. "But I am not a foolish man. I know a defeat when I see one. I'll just have to be more prepared next time." He eyed the Dragonite and the Charizard now forming a protective barrier in front of Mai and Kei.

He loosed a pokeball from his belt and carelessly tossed it forward. From it came out the weakened Gardevoir, the one that had held Mai hostage and had been attacked by Ninetail's previous Fire Blast. The poor Pokemon was barely conscious and staggering on its tiny legs, making pitiful, faint cries.

"Gar….de…voir…" she murmured.

"Enough! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and use Teleport, now!"

"Gar…"

The weakened Gardevoir obviously didn't have the strength, but its loyalty to its trainer was evident. It's body began to glow mutlicoloured.

"I'll be back for you, Mai." The man in white said as Gardevoir's body became outlined in light blue, then the two of them disappeared.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Well, another chapter! As you can probably tell, I'm only doing this for fun. I updated Spirited today so I thought I better update this one too. **

**Hope you enjoy. **


	4. Kei's Concerns

"Mai, what the _hell _kind of crazy trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

Mai barely even heard Kei. Her knees were weak and the image of the man in white mercilessly kicking his own Garchomp in the stomach was all too prominent in her mind. She sunk to her knees, feeling the threat of tears.

"Mai?" Kei sounded worried. "Are you okay?"

Charizard and Dragonite picked up on her upset, and both nuzzled their large heads into her. She couldn't even lift her hands to acknowledge them. All she could think about was that man's poor Pokemon. The Gardevoir forced to use its power to restrain humans…something that obviously must have compromised its beliefs…the poor Garchomp being so cruelly attacked after losing a fight…She felt physically sick.

"How…how can he treat his pokemon like that?" she shuddered. "How…can anyone say Pokemon are just _tools_?"

"I don't know, Mai." She felt Kei's arms around her shoulders. "It's okay—"

"It's not okay!" she shook her head vehemently. "Those poor Pokemon…"

Kei looked at her sympathetically and slowly helped his friend to her feet. She looked pale and distant, her eyes glazed over. It frightened him to see his normally strong friend reduced to this state. She was like a scared little girl. Swallowing heavily, he helped her to a nearby convenient bench, and rather forcefully sat her down. Charizard and Dragonite both tried to clamber on to the bench with her, but Kei had to shoo them away before their combined weight collapsed the fragile wood.

"So…" Kei ventured, after pushing a sweet high energy drink they reserved for emergencies into Mai's hands. "Who was that guy anyway? Did you know him?"

"Don't have a clue who he is…"

"Hmm…He seemed to know you, though."

She shrugged her shoulders, sipping her drink slowly. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know who he is."

People were slowly starting to investigate the area again after the sudden earthquake and smoke incident. Kei didn't particularly want to explain to anyone the real reason for the churned up earth and the loud explosions, but people seemed to be satisified when they saw the presence of a Dragonite and Charizard and simply put it down to a bout between elitests.

Mind you, that was Mai's wish of keeping a low profile pretty much dashed.

"What….what would anyone want with me?" Mai suddenly ventured. "He…he said he needed me for a "job"….What…what could he mean…? I…If you hadn't stepped in…who knows where I would be now…"

Kei shrugged. "I couldn't exactly let that guy take ya…I mean, you still had all the chocolate we bought at the mart today!"

Mai managed a weak grin at his feeble attempt to lighten the situation. "So…how did you even manage to…rescue me, anyway?" She seriously disliked the use of the word "rescue", especially in conjuction with Kei. "I thought that guy in white had his Gardevoir use Hypnosis on you? Didn't it put you to sleep?"

Kei laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, come on, Mai! Hypnosis pretty much has no effect on me anymore! I have a _Gengar_!"

"So?"

"Don't you remember when I caught it as a Gastly when we were in Pokemon Tower? I wanted a ghost Pokemon so much and when I eventually caught Gastly, I was so happy! But it _hated _us at first, remember?"

"How could I forget?" she said darkly, revisiting images of that manic ball of floating purple gas often escaping from its pokeball and causing havoc. Anything from pulling pranks, slipping through walls to evade recapture and its particular favourite, putting people to sleep with that Hypnosis attack.

"I mean, with the amount of times Gastly used Hypnosis on me, I guess I just developed some kind of immunity to it!" he laughed.

Mai shook her head, albeit rather fondly at her friend. Her Charizard suddenly butted at her with his head, and she suddenly felt the urge to hug him. Hugging him close, feeling his warmth, the gentle beat of his heart, the sound of his flickering tail…her first Pokemon, her starter, her _partner. _She felt comforted as she finally let him go. He blew out a short puff of smoke from his nostrils in a clear display of embrassment.

"So…" Kei said a moment later. "What should we do?"

"Hmm?"

"If that guy was going on about needing you for some kind of "job", he'll probably come after you again, won't he?"

"Yeah. Probably."

"That doesn't bother you?"

"Well…it does, kinda. But…what's the point in worrying about it? He'll either find us or he won't. And well…look at how easily we beat him. I think we could take him if he found us again."

"You're not even a _bit _interested in why he wants you?"

Charizard let out a low growl that seemed to say "_Let him try to take you!_"

Mai patted him on the head to reassure him and he quieted. "Of course I'm interested why a crazy guy dressed all in white wants to kidnap me. But what's the point in worrying about something you don't have control over?"

Suddenly Kei's hand was on her forehead and she blushed furiously at the sudden contact of his long, cool fingers. "Kei…wh…wha…?" she babbled.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked. "I mean, since when have you laid down and let things pass you by? Normally you'd be hounding that guy for his blood by now."

"Get off me!" she tore his hand from her forehead, trying to hide her reddened cheeks. "Listen…this guy…if he really is on orders from some guy to capture me…I'd like to know who he is, wouldn't you?"

"I guess so."

"Exaaaactly!" Mai grinned, standing up. "So we wait for Mr Man in White to find us! That way we don't have to do any work hunting him down! A win-win!"

Kei shrugged. "If you say so."

"So, what do you say? Fancy going for that ride in the sky, then?"

Kei looked at her and a wide grin spread across his face. "I thought you'd never ask!"

* * *

Half an hour later, Mai and Kei were sailing through the air on the backs of their trusted Pokemon. Feeling the deliciously cold wind on her face, licking at her hair, the sky nothing but slabs of interlocking shades of blue, the tiny, dot-sized people on their shiny bicycles below them, Kei's occasional whoops of joy as he dared to stand up and ride his Dragonite, surfer style…she felt far more content and peaceful than she ever thought she could be.

Of course, her mind did drift to the man in white. Who was he? Why did he want her? How could he treat his Pokemon like tools? She couldn't understand. Even her own view on the whole situation, the more "let it be" approach was unfamiliar to her. What had prompted this sudden change in attitude? Kei was right. Normally she would have hounded the guy for his blood.

After a short flight, the two trainers touched down at the end of Cycling Road. Dragonite and Charizard were both called back to their respective trainers, and the two friends began their walk east. Kei decided it would be a good idea to allow some of his Pokemon out for some exercise and released his Jolteon.

"Jolt-eee-on!" the fox like Pokemon seemed to enjoy being out in the fresh air once more and made a big show out of stretching itself out. But then again, Kei's Jolteon was known as a bit of a show off. Its vivid yellow fur stuck up in spikes with the sharpness of needles and its short stumpy tail waggled incessantly.

"Guess I better get in on the act too," Mai said, loosing a Pokeball from her belt. "Absol! Time for some exercise!"

A Pokemon resembling a quadrupedal mammal with a dark blue and grey coat appeared from its Pokeball. With a cat like face, a scythe like tail, feet adorned with three claws, and spikes protruding from its hind legs and elbows, it was a fierce and mysterious looking Pokemon. Absol was a rather more lonely Pokemon, preferring to keep itself to itself, and Mai immediately foresaw some scuffles likely to happen between him and Kei's energetic and show-offy Jolteon.

They continued east for a short walk, finding it swarming with rookie trainers and hikers. Thankfully, as Mai and Kei were in a hurry, most of the people were clever enough to stay away from two Elites with obviously well trained Pokemon as bodyguards. The few that weren't so clever met with an almost instanteous defeat, a red face and a dented ego.

Much to Mai's dismay, it turned out that they did have to travel through a short cave of Mt Coronet. Jolteon's disgust at this was evident as he immediately proceed to hiss and shoot wayward sparks of electricity as he was almost forcefully _dragged _through the dark eerie place.

Emerging from Mt Coronet proved to be a huge relief for Mai. Although Mai hated to admit it, she wasn't one for dark places. In all honesty, she hated darkness, but of course, she would never admit it. She stayed close to Kei through the whole cave, feeling a lot more secure with him and Absol and Jolteon acting as protectors. She was grateful to emerge into the bright sunshine and be free of that dank, dark claustrophobic town.

"So, where are we again?" Kei was squinting in the evening sunshine. "I almost forgot it was daytime…it's like being in the cinema…I always think it should be in the middle of the night when I get out of there…"

Mai looked at Kei oddly. "Kei, do you ever speak sense?"

He shrugged. "Now and again, yeah."

Mai blew out in exasperation and consulted her map again. "We're just short of some place called Celestic Town. If we pass through here, we should reach Hearthome in a few days."

Kei whimpered. "Why are we going to Hearthome again?"

"I _told _you, I heard some rumour about a huge Pokemon contest taking place there that _loads _of really strong trainers are competing! And I want in!"

"Yeah, and I want to go and buy a chocolate factory, but we can't always get everything we want."

_THWACK_!

"Ow! Maaaaaai! That hurt!"

"Good."

After an executive decision on Mai's part to rest for the remainder of the day, the two friends headed to the Pokemon centre. Kei didn't argue; he was concerned about his friend and in truth, wanted her to rest as well. How could she act so calm and composed after such a bizarre and dangerous thing had happened to her? If she wanted to rest, and try and get over this whole thing by herself, then he would be more than willing to let her do so.

Finding accomodation in the Pokemon Centre proved difficult. Celestic Town was tiny compared to most other towns and cities Mai and Kei had visited on their travels, and as a result, the Pokemon Center was also small and select, with few rooms available. There wasn't even that many local hotels or B&Bs in the area, so Mai began to panic that they wouldn't get a room for the night. Eventually though, a room became available and the two tired Elitists collapsed on their rather lumpy beds and fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

* * *

The following morning, the two friends woke up even before the sun was beginning to inch over the horizon. They were sore from the uncomfortable beds and hungry from not eating since lunchtime the previous day, but were refreshed and relaxed, so that was a bonus. Although Kei complained of being "starving hungry", Mai was eager to be up and moving. She was more restless than normal, Kei noted. She hated staying in one place for too long anyway, but she was noticibly worse now. Kei knew better than to push his friend on the matter, it would only end up being worse for him, but that didn't stop him being concerned as the two of them left that morning.

It took them a little over four days to reach Hearthome City. As Kei loved to point out every five minutes, it wouldn't have taken them even a _day _to reach there if they were flying, however Mai was adamant they weren't going to draw too much attention to themselves again and made them walk.

Reaching Hearthome for Kei was like completing a marathon and he ran around this new city like an over-excited puppy whilst Mai tried to kid on that she didn't have a clue who he was.

"Come on, Kei!" she tried to hurry him up, practically dragging him along the busy streets of Hearthome. "I wanna get to that big competition! We came right on time too! It's today! It's today! Move your arse!"

Kei allowed himself to be dragged, commenting idly on various city features as they travelled up through the city. He was mostly pointing out cafes and supermarkets, whining about his totally depleted chocolate supply, but Mai was having none of it.

"Here we are!" Mai grinned happily as the two of them eventually found their way to the giant Contest Hall. It was an impressive looking building, huge, in the shape of a giant dome.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kei asked, straightening up and looking around. An occasional wind blew around the plaza. He frowned. Something wasn't right here. If this really was the setting for a big contest where were all the hives of people and Pokemon?

Mai frowned and crossed her arms. She couldn't even see it like he could. "Of course it is!" she said indignantly.

Kei looked around again to demonstrate his point. "But…if this is the place…why is it so quiet?"

Mai stopped. Her eyes darted around the deserted area and her arms slowly dropped to her side. The place was quiet. Too quiet for a contest supposed to be happening later that day. There weren't any signs or posters or billboards depicting the contests…Kei pointed out he hadn't seen any either whilst he was being dragged by Mai into the city. Getting herself into a furious panic, Mai insisted that she had the right date, but the whole place was just empty. There was no sign of life anywhere near the contest hall. A chilly wind suddenly struck up, biting at their exposed skin.

"I think we've got the wrong day," Kei reiterated.

"No, I'm right, I know I am!" Mai insisted. "The guy who told me about it said it was gonna be held on the second of March! This is the second of March!" She even flipped open her Poketch to display the date. "02/03/2010" flashed up on the screen.

Kei scratched the back of his neck. "Well, ain't that a kick in the head, eh?" he said, whilst privately jumping up and down for joy at the prospect of not being forced to sit through endless battling all day. Just to be sure, he walked up to the doors and rattled them uselessly. They remained firmly shut. "Oh, well! Looks like they're closed! What a shame, we're just gonna have to come back another time! Hey, why don't we go and get some food at that nice little—Hawaaaah?"

"You're not going anywhere." Mai said firmly, pinching Kei's ear between her thumb and forefinger, making him squeal in pain. "We're going to find out what's going on here first!"

"Maybe they cancelled it?" Kei suggested, between occasional yelps of pain.

"But why would they do that?" Mai demanded, already dangerously close to blowing into a full blown strop.

Mai finally released Kei and wandered up to the doors again, forcefully trying to yank them open, but meeting with no success. She let out a deep sigh and stood back a few paces, hands on her hips. She growled in frustration, before she saw someone in a dark cloak out of the corner of her eye. She was off like a shot after the man before Kei even knew where she was going.

"Excuse me?" she grabbed the man by the shoulder. "Did you know if there's a contest being held here…" the man slowly turned around to face her. "…today…?" she broke off as the man's face became clear.

It was too clear a face. Too familiar.

"Oh my God…" Mai dropped the man's shoulder like it was a hot brick and stepped away. But she couldn't avert her eyes from those rounded, coffee coloured eyes, almost an exact replica of her own.

"Wh…what the _hell _are you doing here?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Another chapter! Finally! I'm trying to update this as often as I can, but it's not my top priority...**

**I wrote this when I was kinda hyped up on medicine. I take really bizarre reactions to medicine, so I hope the quality of the writing isn't overly bad!**

**Big thanks to RunningWithWolves11 and AmpharosLover666 for the awesome reviews! Thank you guys so much! You've made me and my friend so happy! I don't know why it doesn't have reviews either...Eh. One of those things, eh?**

**Next chapter will come...I have no idea when the next chapter will come. Soon, I promise! **

**You know the drill. Read & Review if you can!**


	5. Family Ties

"Answer me! What the hell are you doing here?"

The man was pretty young, Kei noticed. He couldn't be much more than twenty or twenty one years of age. He was tall, but not too tall that it was noticeable. He was dressed casually, in long coat, jeans and a black t-shirt, normal, acceptable clothes for a man his age. He wasn't handsome, but he was by no means ugly. His features were unimpressive, the kind of face that could be forgotten easily, someone who would be glanced over in a crowd, someone who blended in easily. The man was unremarkable in almost every way apart from those eyes. Rounded, a deep coffee in colour that darted around, seeing everything, missing nothing.

Eyes that looked exactly like Mai's.

The man turned his face to Mai, who stood rigid, her own eyes never leaving the stranger's. Kei didn't have a clue what was going on. Who was this man? How did Mai know who he was?

The strange man said nothing. This irked Mai and she stepped closer to the stranger, her face twisted in anger. Kei had seen Mai angry before, many many times before, mostly at him, but this was different. This was sheer, unmitigated anger. She was physically shaking, her eyes were narrowed in fury and her voice shook and broke in her temper.

"I'm not playing games with you! What the _hell _are you doing here?"

The man smirked and flicked a lock of brown hair from his face. "Now, now, Mai" his voice was smooth like velvet, calm, but slippery, like an eel. "There's no need to be so rude. That's no way to treat your own brother!"

Kei gasped. This was Mai's brother? The brother she hadn't seen in years, an incredibly powerful Pokemon trainer, rumoured to have taken on and _beaten _every member of every Elite Four and had a good shot at the Champions too? This was the brother Mai rarely spoke about and whenever she did, spoke of only a bitter relationship, her voice often tinged with hatred? For Mai, her brother was a rival. He had been so successful in his journey…Mai didn't know that Kei knew this, but he was sure that living in her brother's shadow was part of Mai's yearning to be a successful trainer. Incredible. This unremarkable looking man was the one that caused Mai so much stress; so much angst…Kei was in awe. But he knew that underneath than unremarkable, easily forgotten façade was probably an incredible trainer. Even now, there was something imposing, intimidating about him. Kei watched Mai's brother, his breathing short and sharp, staying perfectly still, unsure of what to do.

Mai on the other hand was still enraged. "Brother? Hah! Don't make me laugh. We haven't been brother and sister in ten years!"

"Hmph. Well, don't you think, Mai…that this is a charming little twist of fate?" the man circled Mai a few times, until he stood behind her. Mai could feel his cold breath brushing the nape of her neck, making her shiver. "Us being together like this, again?" He pushed his head next to hers, his arms draping over his shoulders. Kei found himself shuddering as the man started playing with a thick lock of Mai's hair.

"There's no twist of fate or anything like that here." Mai said coldly, slapping his hand away from her.

"Oh, are you sure?" the man's voice was sugary sweet, making Kei even more nervous than he was before.

"Yeah." Mai said firmly. "You lured me here, didn't you?"

"Oh, would I do such a thing?" the man said in an overdramatic, feigned innocence, dragging himself away from Mai.

"Wait a minute…" a thought suddenly struck Kei and he looked at Mai's brother in horror. "It…it was you, wasn't it?" he pointed at the man who had turned to face him instead.

The man raised an eyebrow at Kei, but what he had to stay was too important for him to be quiet. Kei forced the words out after some difficulty.

"You were the one who told that strange man with the Gardevoir and that to capture us weren't you?" Kei demanded of the man.

Mai's expression changed rapidly from furious anger to disbelief and she looked up at her older brother, looking puzzled, like she was seeking the answer to the meaning of life.

"Oh, this is too funny!" the man laughed, but there was no humour behind it. "I come here to find my precious little sister again after _so _many years and I'm getting accused of "luring" her here and now, apparently I've sent some man after you two to _capture _you? How insulting…"

"Is it the truth?" Kei's voice was dangerously loud and threatening. Mai who was no longer capable of speech was looking at her friend strangely, as if she didn't really know who he was anymore.

The man smirked. "If I may speak theoretically for a moment?"

Kei grunted at him in response.

"You're too kind," he pretended to bow, but that irritating smirk was still plastered all over his face. He began to pace, waving his hand around as if he was a conductor, pausing to change the direction he paced every now and again. "Well, let's just say, theoretically, I _could _have asked someone to spread a little rumour to Mai about a huge competition. I know how much she enjoys big battles and competitions after all. And I _do _have lots of people from _all _walks of life working under me, so I _could _have easily sent someone to…apprehend you, as if were. All theoretically, you understand."

Both Mai and Kei were stunned into silence. For once, neither of them could speak. Then Mai slowly raised her head and took a shaky step forward, her eyes fixated on her brother.

"So…so you did do it…?" Mai's voice came out in a strained whisper. "You _did _try and lure me here. You _did _send someone after me…"

"Why, though?" Kei demanded. "Why did you do it?"

The man shrugged. "It's not about the "why", boy. That's irrelevant."

"You sound like that man…" Kei said without thinking, remembering that strange man in white's refusal to tell them anything.

Mai's brother laughed manically. "Please! You're killing me, here! There's a world of difference between that man and I! Once it eventually occurred to me that there was a possibility of my beloved sister not being baited by this lure, I decided that, just to be safe _precautions _needed to be made. But…" he raised his eyebrows at the two young trainers standing before them. "I wasn't aware of just how good you were at battling. Just goes to show you, you should never send a boy to do a man's job."

At this point, Mai snapped. All thoughts of being an experienced Pokemon trainer with well trained, very strong Pokemon were lost and she threw herself bodily at her brother. Her brother, although slim and slight, proved to be strong, effortlessly holding her in place as she struggled against his grip. His sharp fingernails bit into her exposed arms, but she didn't even notice the pain and continued to try and break out of his grasp or free her hands, anything to just cause him pain. She wanted to hit him, punch him, beat in that smug face of his, but she couldn't. She felt tears of frustration gather in the corners of her eyes, and then suddenly she was forcibly thrown back.

"Mai?" Kei managed to catch her as she staggered back.

Mai was panting in Kei's arms; her face reddened furiously, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. Kei didn't know if they were tears of frustration, pain or sadness. It could have been all three for all he knew. Her arms were bloodied with the cuts caused by her brother's fingernails, but she didn't even seem to know she was hurt. Kei looked at the state his best friend was in and suddenly felt scared…

"You…you bastard!" She spat, and Kei had to restrain her to stop her from launching herself at him again.

"Tch." Mai's brother scoffed. "If you really want to fight me, why don't we fight in the way we both know best?"

Her brother threw his coat off to the ground. It was then Kei noticed a line of gleaming Pokeballs attached to a belt around his slim waist. "_Of course_!" Kei thought. "_He's a Pokemon trainer too! Mai told me this guy took on every challenge in every region! But he shouldn't be any more difficult than that guy in white…should he? No…that man in white worked _under_ that guy! Dammit! This guy is probably a whole different league from that man in white…And Mai…_" he looked sadly at his friend, shaking in fury. "_She's not in any condition to battle here…"_

"Oh, you're on, brother!" Mai's hands flew to her own Pokeballs, but just as quickly as she was, Kei's hand was on hers, stopping her. "…Kei? What the hell—"

"You're in no condition to battle him!" Kei told her firmly.

"Wh…what the hell do you mean!" Mai demanded, trying to tug her hand away from his, but he had a stronger grip than she had expected.

Kei sighed and his voice was notably gentler and softer. "You'll end up doing something you regret…"

"No! I won't regret anything! That bastard's going to regret messing with me!"

"No, Mai!" Kei shouted, darting around her tiny frame to face her. He looked directly into her face, holding onto her wrists to stop her. "If you try and battle him, you'll end up doing something you regret! I won't let you do that!"

"Kei, get out of my way!" Mai pushed past him fiercely and she unhooked her first Pokeball from her belt. "I will battle you, brother! And I _will _prove I'm better than you once and for all!"

"Hmph, we shall see." Her brother snorted, elegantly unhooking a Pokeball and spinning it on one of his long fingers. He tossed it to the air, grabbed it and then carelessly threw it in front of him. The ball erupted in a flash of white light.

Kei stepped back warily as Mai's brother's first Pokemon was revealed. What looked like a black doll like _thing _appeared from the Pokeball. Its mouth looked oddly like a yellow zipper, and it was twisted into a manic, menacing grin. Neither Mai nor Kei knew what this Pokemon was or what type it was. It was becoming more and more of an annoyance the further they travelled into Sinnoh; all these unknown Pokemon they had to face…

For Mai, though, it didn't matter what this Pokemon was, or what type it was or anything like that. Mai, who didn't really think much about type weaknesses or strengths anyway and whose only strategy consisted of hitting them fast and hitting them _hard_, sent out her first Pokemon without a moment's hesitation.

"Raichu! You're up!"

Mai's trusted Raichu bounded out of its Pokeball, its lightning bolt shaped tail waving incessantly. Its normally hyper and child-like nature was suddenly taken over by a mode of seriousness as it caught sight of the strange doll like Pokemon in front of it. Lightning sparks started to form at its cheeks and it growled in a menacing manner.

"You seriously expect to defeat my Banette with that? A little electric mouse?" Mai's brother taunted her. "Hah! That guy I sent must have been way weaker than I thought!"

"You shut up!" Mai shouted, her Raichu adding its low growls to her orders. "I didn't defeat the Elite Four and become the champion by doing _nothing_, you know? I'm Elite now!"

"Big deal." Her brother shrugged. "So you beat one measly little champion. That doesn't mean…" he fixed her with a cold, hard stare. "…that you can beat me! Banette, use Shadow Ball, now!"

The attack came so quickly that Mai couldn't even give her Raichu the order to dodge. Thankfully Raichu's speed and agility were second to none and he was easily able to bound expertly out of the way of the blob of shadowy black and purple energy. Even Mai's brother looked surprised at the Raichu's quick dodge.

Mai breathed out a sigh of relief and grinned to herself, recovering from her momentary distraction quickly. She put on her battle face and focused every inch of her concentration to the battle that was taking place in front of her. This was too important a battle to lose!

She clenched her fists and looked her brother unwaveringly in the eye.

"_There is no way in hell I'm losing this!_"

* * *

**Authors' Note**

**Yeah, I know, this update came shockingly fast, but I already had it written on my laptop anyway. **

**I don't know when the next update will come, my exam results are coming in on Thursday and I'll find out then if I've made it to University *fingers crossed*, so I don't know when I'll get a chance to write...Either from excitement or depression...I don't know.**

**Wow, I was sure surprised to wake up with three new reviews! :) Happy happy! Thank you so much!**

**Avicide, thank you very much for the awesome compliments and I'm happy you enjoyed the characterization! I have so much fun writing Mai and Kei that I love it when I get a positivie reaction! Personally, I think they make the story! **

**RunningWithWolves11, thank you very much for your second review! And good guess too! It was a little obvious it was someone from Mai's family, but what the hey. Yes, I was a little worried that Mai and Kei came across as too perfect and too Mary Sue-ish, you know, being such strong trainers, so I'm glad that's not the case! Thank you for wanting to review every chapter! Makes me very happy! **

**And finally to ****rawrrxixeatxyou, thank you for reviewing and the compliments! And in answer to your question, Mai and Kei have been best friends for ages, so romance isn't really on the cards. However Mai, as you may be able to tell, is slowly developing feelings for him. **

**I've had a few people asking whether or not Mai and Kei should be an item. Does anyone think they SHOULD end up together or is it better to keep the relationship platonic?**


	6. Strategies and Self Doubt

"Mai…I still say this is a bad idea!" Mai could hear Kei's warning, interfering voice in the distance. "You won't win against him like this!"

"Kei, shut up!" She snapped and turned away firmly so that Kei found himself staring at her back.

Kei let out a little moan at this and sunk his head into his hands. "_This is going to end so badly! She's going to get herself hurt!"_

"Raichu! Take that thing down with a Thunder Attack!"

"Rai!" the Raichu stood to order, dropped to all fours and its body was suddenly engulfed in crackling bright yellow electricity. The subsequent electrical attack was vicious. If Kei didn't know just how powerful Mai's Raichu was from experience, he never would have believed so much electricity could have come from such a tiny Pokemon. A massive, wicked bolt of thunder was blasted from the Raichu's body, heading straight for Banette!

The explosion was immense. A huge boom erupted from all around them, dust and chips flying up like debris all around them. Kei sheltered his face from the massive dust cloud, often feeling hard, thick lumps of slate or rock hitting his body. When everything calmed and cleared, he dared to look again and gasped. There was a huge crater in the middle of the ground! Mai's brother's eyes widened at the sight of the smoking crater and he peered closer to it to check how deep it was. Mai and Raichu had the same triumphant grins on their faces. But where was…

"_The Banette!" _Kei thought in panic, twisting his neck around to look. "_Where's the Banette?_"

"_Nothing can stand up to_ _Raichu's Thunder attack_!" Mai thought to herself and then her face twisted into a wider grin. "Well, brother! What did you make of that?"

"Impressive, I'll admit." If Mai's brother was concerned or worried about the fact his Banette had mysteriously disappeared, he wasn't betraying it through his voice or face.

"_Something's not right here!_" Kei thought to himself. "_Where's that Banette? I've got a bad feeling about this!"_

"So?" Mai crossed her arms expectantly. "Aren't you going to recall that Banette of yours, wherever it is, and give me a decent battle?"

The brother's eyes flashed and his eyebrows rose. The corner of his mouth tugged into a slight smile. "Now why would I do that?"

Something caught Kei's attention at the corner of his eye. "Mai! Behind you!"

"Banette! Use Shadow Sneak!"

"What?"

All of a sudden, the Banette appeared right behind Mai and Raichu! It cackled evilly as it emerged from the shadows and slammed itself into the Raichu. Mai let out a scream as Raichu was launched from behind and sent flying across the grounds, landing on his face in the depths of the crater.

"Raichu?" Mai sounded close to tears as she raced up to the crater, looking for her beloved Pokemon. Kei cast a wary glance at the Banette, cackling to itself before following Mai to the edge of the crater.

Thankfully, the crater wasn't too deep, but Raichu was in a sorry state nonetheless at the bottom. He was lying there, barely conscious, a steady trickle of blood running down from a cut on his head. He tried to get up, but fell again, this time completely unconscious. Kei dared to look at Mai and then wished he hadn't. She had a look of abject terror on her face as she watched her Raichu admit defeat.

"_This is impossible…_" Kei looked up at Mai's brother, who was smirking. "_That Banette of his took out Raichu with _one _attack! The Raichu that gives even my Dragonite trouble! No…just how strong is that thing?"_

Mai recalled Raichu listlessly. It was clear she was thinking the exact same thing Kei was. She looked up to her brother in total disbelief.

"A simple Protect." Her brother began to explain at Mai's shocked face. "My Banette shielded itself quite nicely from that little light show of yours. Then I simply gave him the order to use Shadow Sneak…"

"_Of course…" _Kei understood. "_Shadow Sneak attacks from behind! That Banette must have concealed itself in the shadows when all that dust was floating about and attacked when they weren't expecting it! Dammit! This guy could be trouble_!"

Mai looked up at her brother now with all confidence dashed. He had folded his arms; his Banette now perched on his shoulder. "So." He looked down his pointed nose at her. "Are you ready to give _me _a decent battle?"

Mai's temper blew. That comment had been like throwing petrol or gasoline on a roaring fire. "_Hah!_" she thought to herself as she pushed past a retreating Kei to find herself a better position to battle. "_That Banette of his is strong for sure, but all it has for itself is that it knows how to sneak about! Well, now that I know all his tricks, I won't fall for it again! He's gonna regret messing with me! I'll make sure of that!_"

Her hand flew to her belt again and she picked out a Pokemon. She clutched the Pokeball tightly and threw it into the arena.

"Scyther! Scy!"

A giant green Pokemon that resembled a flying mantis burst from Mai's Pokeball. Mai's brother raised an eyebrow at the sight of the rare Bug Pokemon as it crossed is blade like wings and focused entirely on the enemy in front of it. Mai's Scyther was quick and deadly in battle, with ninja like speed and precision when it came to executing finishing attacks. Kei understood why Mai had chosen Scyther, even though underneath, the Pokemon didn't really enjoy battling and loved nothing more than to lounge in the sun or ferry small bug Pokemon on its back in forest habitats.

Mai's brother moved to issue a command, but Mai got there first. She had the advantage with Scyther's precision and speed, she felt. That Shadow Sneak wouldn't work this time and she wasn't leaving anything up to chance. "Scyther! Use X-Scissor!"

"Banette! Counter it with another Shadow Ball!"

Scyther's blade like arms began to glow a light purple in preparation for the attack, just as the Banette effortlessly fired another blob of black shadowy energy in its direction. However, Scyther easily dodged around the Banette's attack and flew right at it! The Banette let out a squeak as Scyther was suddenly right in its face! Mai grinned triumphantly as Scyther slashed both blade like wings in an X fashion, sending it spiralling back across the grounds.

Scyther landed back on its feet again, letting out a proud cry. However, it was short-lived. The Banette righted itself easily, much to the brother's pleasure and Mai and Kei's despair.

"Banette! Use Will-O-Wisp!"

"Oh no!" Mai gasped.

"_That move could be devastating for a bug type!_" Kei thought frantically.

The Banette raised its arms, tiny balls of blue flames forming all around its body and then began shooting them one-by-one at Mai's Scyther. Although Mai's Scyther was quick, he couldn't dodge every single one that came in the sinister barrage and eventually, inevitably, one hit. Scyther let out a howl of pain as the ball of flames burned his body, and he staggered back, the burn already beginning to spread, hindering its movement.

"Scyther!" Mai called out, suddenly feeling helpless.

"Now, Banette! Finish him with a Shadow Ball!"

Kei couldn't believe it as Mai's Scyther was blown away by a perfectly timed Shadow Ball. It drove itself into the Scyther's thin body, and sent him blasting away across the other end of the grounds. He hit the ground hard and didn't get up again.

"_No…this is impossible! Raichu and Scyther, two of Mai's best Pokemon taken out like that? They were practically one-hit KO's!_"

Kei was watching from the sidelines as people began crowding the area, attracted by and intrigued at this fierce battle between two such obviously skilled trainers. Kei wondered if they knew the gravity behind the battle or if they were just there to see a show. If he hadn't been so intent on watching Mai to make sure she kept her composure, Kei would have shooed the crowd away. Considering the way this battle was heading…he didn't want Mai to be made a spectacle of.

Kei watched on, grimacing as Mai's Rhydon was called into battle. Rhydon's superior defence allowed it to stay in battle far longer against Banette than either Scyther or Raichu and much to Mai's pleasure, Rhydon managed to inflict some major damage on it through a powerful Stone Edge attack. Ultimately though, it fell to the same fate as both Mai's previous Pokemon courtesy of the Banette's many Dark Type moves, especially a particularly nasty Dark Pulse.

Kei could see the disappointment tinged in Mai's face as she recalled Rhydon. She was three Pokemon down and still had the Banette and five other unidentified Pokemon probably just as strong or even _stronger _than Banette to concede with. It had been a long time since Kei had seen Mai take such a beating in battle... This was the kind of battle that if you lost, you probably would never recover from…

"_What am I thinking_!" He shook his head vehemently. "_She'll win! Of course she'll win! She _always _wins! No matter how good this guy is, she can take him! She has to…She just has to."_

On the battlefield, Mai considered what Pokemon to use next. She still had Absol, Charizard and Gyarados left. Her best three, she had always thought. She touched on her decision briefly before pulling Absol's Pokeball up from her belt. She wasn't about to pull out her trump card or her last chance saloon, just yet.

"Absol! Let's go!"

The expression on Mai's brother's face changed as he caught sight of the cat like Disaster Pokemon burst from the Pokeball. He narrowed his eyes and turned to Banette, issuing another order to battle.

The round did not last long. Kei screamed in delight and the crowd cheered as Mai's Absol managed to defeat her brother's Banette with a perfectly executed series of Bite attacks. Mai had already figured out the Banette was a Ghost type throughout the course of the battle, and Dark type moves worked well against Ghost types.

"Well, well," Mai's brother sneered as he recalled the dizzy, exhausted and completely beaten Banette to its Pokeball. "Maybe you do have a little bite in you. But seriously," he added, spinning another Pokeball on his finger. "You can't expect to win, can you? You're three Pokemon down."

"Well, I make the odds five-to-three, so I've still got a pretty good chance as far as I can see! Don't count me out just yet, brother!"

"I never underestimate my opponents in battle." He said coolly. "But you_ cannot_ win here."

"Well, you know what they say, huh? It ain't over till the fat lady sings!"

"I think I can hear her humming a few bars," He scoffed cruelly. He then carelessly brushed his lips with his fingers. "Huh. If I give credit where credit's due, Mai, you're better than I thought. I haven't had to resort to using my second Pokemon in battle for a long time. There have been few and far between that have forced my hand like this."

"Yeah, yeah, quit your showing off and battle! We're all growing old here listening to your stupid patter!" Mai said, gesturing to the audience that had gathered, earning a few appreciative chuckles from the crowd.

An uncharacteristic blush appeared on her brother's face and he cleared his throat loudly before regaining himself and tossing the next Pokeball into the fray. "Hit 'em hard, Luxray!"

A Pokemon that looked like a giant blue lion appeared in the blast of light from the Pokeball. It stomped one of its huge paws on the once elaborate, flawless ground and sparks of electricity crackled all around it. Although neither Mai nor Kei had seen this Pokemon before, as was the case a lot recently, they couldn't fail to identify it as an Electric type. Mai cursed to herself at her brother's choice. She would have to take it out with Absol. Gyarados was weak to Electric types, as was Charizard, being part flying type.

"Absol! Use Razor Wind!"

"Luxray! Discharge!"

Kei watched the next round from his position at the sidelines, his heart in his mouth. Another unfamiliar Pokemon for Mai to deal with. He wished he knew more about the Pokemon native to the regions other than his own home region. If they got out of this mess more or less intact, he made a secret pledge to himself to, for once, not be so lazy and do some proper research.

The battle between Absol and Luxray continued on, each cat like Pokemon landing hit after hit on each other, but neither causing each other major damage. For once, they seemed to be evenly matched. There was an even playing field between them as Absol and Luxray played off each other. However, whilst Mai was on the verge of screaming commands at Absol, her brother was calmly dictating his own orders to his Luxray, almost with nonchalance.

Something was bothering Kei as he watched. Mai's brother was an incredible battler, there was no doubt about that, but Kei could see no obvious strategy or the approach he took in his movements. His moves were almost unpredictable.

"_This isn't right._" Kei thought to himself again for the second time. "_He made such a big deal about talking up his Luxray…there's no way this, this going toe-to-toe with Mai's Absol is the full extent of its powers! I don't like this…he's probably got some other clever plan all set up from the outlet, just like with that Banette of his! I _wish _I knew what it was! I'm normally so good at reading strategies…why can't I read his now, dammit? I wish I could help Mai somehow!"_

The battle raged on. The number of spectators had almost doubled in number and some were chatting noisily as they watched, like they were watching some dinner show or something like that. It annoyed Kei immensely; he was trying to keep his full attentions on the battle happening in front of him, trying to concentrate on deciphering any tactics Mai's brother was concealing. Every now and again, he _would_ catch some glimpse of an opening that Mai could have taken advantage of, but each time, she did not see it. He could not blame her though. They were only minor little things that even a whole crowd of trainers did not notice. They could only be seen by those who had experience in that sort of thing, people who had had a lifetime of merely watching things from a distance, just like Kei.

Even though he knew it was a stupid idea, he found himself wishing he could battle Mai's brother instead of her. She was too caught up in her anger and whatever personal vendetta she had against him to battle at her best. Kei on the other hand could have used some of that so-called "genius" to win. You see, Kei had been told numerous times by Mai and others that he was something of a "genius" in battle, that he could see openings others couldn't and calculate and plan out his attacks with military precision.

Kei didn't see it that way. "Genius" was a term reserved for people who worked out what the speed of light was or found the cure for cancer, not for someone like him. No, he considered himself someone who was just observant and who relied on gut instinct more often than not, and until he had heard otherwise, he had thought that _everyone _planned ahead their battles the way he did. He wasn't the type of trainer who could see something happen in front of him and then instantly react to it.

And that was the reason he knew he couldn't battle Mai's brother.

"_I wish I didn't battle like that…_" he thought sadly. "_I wish I could be like Mai…I wish I could just see something happen in front of me and know instantly what to do like she does. _I _have to plan everything out to the tiniest detail…I panic when things happen that I didn't account for…"_

He raised his head up to watch the battle between Mai and her brother. She was visibly getting upset and his heart twisted in sadness. This was probably killing her. Seeing her so valiantly attempting to win, but getting almost nowhere made him wish again that he was the one fighting and not her. However, at the same time, a little voice nagged him at the back of his mind that he would be useless against him. "_My style of battling would be hopeless against Mai's brother. I can't read his tactics, so I can't make my own strategy to counter it! Dammit, it's almost like he's making it up as he goes along, but still…there's some kind of undercurrent…like he _does _know what he's doing…Argh! This is so confusing! This guy…he's just too good_!"

As Kei thought that, Mai's Absol took one hit too many from the vicious electric Pokemon's Thunderbolt attack. Absol was already almost completely paralyzed from the Luxray's Thunder Wave, making it a sitting duck for subsequent attacks. Although the Absol was still currently conscious, technically making it still a candidate to battle on, Mai decided the poor thing had had enough and recalled it, recognising a fourth defeat. A slight smile tugged at the corner of Kei's mouth. She didn't want to lose, heavens no, but she didn't want to let her Pokemon suffer needlessly either.

The Luxray made quick work of Mai's Gyarados too, much to the dismay and booing of the crowd as the giant serpentine Pokemon fainted, causing huge ripples through the ground. Mai was in despair as she recalled Gyarados and she was faced with the knowledge she only had one Pokemon left to rely on. Her hand instinctively tightened around Charizard's Pokeball as her brother's cruel taunts rang in her ears.

From the sidelines, Kei's hand mirrored Mai's and he clutched at Milotic's Pokeball. Mai was holding up well emotionally for the moment. Although she had seemed on the verge of hysterics during the battle between Luxray and Absol, a peculiar calm had descended on her since Gyarados had fainted. Was it some sort of bizarre confidence? Or was more to do with a resignation of her fate? Kei didn't know.

However, there was one thing he _did _know, he thought as he slowly unhooked his Pokeball and began inching forward towards the makeshift battle arena. If Mai really did lose the battle…and that man really was intent on taking her away…Kei would do everything in his power to stop it. Even if that meant stepping in to the battlefield and battling Mai's brother himself. His chances of winning weren't good, he knew that. Kei was a strategist above all else who depended on finding faults and holes in other people's tactics and plan battles around that gathered information. He had had plenty of time to study the brother's fighting style, but Kei had come up with nothing. An occasional opening yes, but nothing that could guarantee him a win.

And Kei had made a pledge a long time ago that he would _never _battle someone he knew he couldn't win against.

"_I've gotta try, though_!" he told himself firmly, clenching the Pokeball tightly as Mai released her sixth and final Pokemon Charizard into the battlefield. "_If anything happens to Mai because of this…I could never forgive myself!"_

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Just a quick note to all my readers here that don't read "Spirited". Just to let you know (if anyone cares) I got into University! I'm so happy!**

**I found this chapter really hard to write...I always panic that my battle scenes are really bad. Next chapter should be easier though. :)**

**Eeek! I just realised I haven't even thought of a NAME for Mai's brother! *sweatdrops***

**Thank you to all my readers and reviewers; you guys are awesomeness defined. Also, thanks for all your opinions on the MaixKei relationship.**

**RunningWithWolves11: Thank you so much for having such a dedicated attitude to reviewing! This story should be within the region of maybe 20+ chapters or so, but I don't know exactly...We'll wait and see! Hikaru-Pichu: You'll just have to read on to find out why her brother wants her! ****rawrrxixeatxyou: thank you for your review and your opinion on Mai and Kei being together! And finally AmpharosLover666: you know I adore your dedication and your enthuisasm! Thank you very very much! **

**Read and Review if possible, please! **


	7. Deals and Deceptions

Mai's Charizard let out an almighty roar as it laid eyes on the lion like Luxray glaring at it from across the battlefield. At the sight of Mai's Charizard, a gleeful, eager grin spread across her brother's face.

"Well this is unexpected. Finally. A _real _opponent."

"You shut your mouth!" Mai snapped and the Charizard roared again at the insult. The flame at the end of its tail suddenly grew in heat, height and power. Mai grinned. She knew the flame at the end of a Charizard's tail was the best way to know how strong it was and how full of vitality it was and right now Mai knew her Charizard was "fired up", to pardon the pun.

"Huh," Mai's brother cast his eyes up and down the Charizard again before looking at Luxray. "Luxray! Use Thunder Fang!"

"Dodge it and use Fire Spin!"

Charizard effortlessly dodged the Luxray's incoming attack by flying into the air straight out of the way. In an instant he drew back and blew a flaming hot wheel of fire from his mouth, trapping the Luxray completely. It looked around uselessly and then began to howl as the fire began to burn its body, but it couldn't break away from Charizard's ferocious ring of fire. The wheel of flame burned down eventually, leaving the Luxray singed and burned and completely dazed, barely able to put one paw down in front of the other.

Excitement gripped Mai, as it did every single spectator eagerly watching from the sidelines. "Now, Charizard! Fire Fang!"

"Yes!" Kei said to himself under his breath as the Luxray took the full brunt of Charizard's vicious fangs.

The crowd cheered as the Luxray wobbled uncertainly on its feet, its body burned and blood dripping from the wound Charizard's teeth had caused, and then fell on its side, defeated.

Mai's brother recalled Luxray without a word and then took out another Pokeball. The air was heavy with tension. Even the crowds quietened immediately as about a hundred pairs of eyes were fixated firmly on Mai's brother, waiting for his next move. He paused, theatrically as if he knew everyone was watching him, eager to find out what was lurking in that Pokeball. Mai swallowed hard as if trying to swallow a tennis ball stuck in her throat, as her brother briefly toyed with the Pokeball before tossing it carelessly into the field.

"Go! Feraligatr!" His voice rang out loud and clear, like the call of an eagle.

"Oh, that is just not fair…" Kei said to himself, dropping his head into his hands at the sight of Mai's brother's next Pokemon.

The burly blue crocodile type Pokemon roared loudly at being let out of its Pokeball and fixed Charizard with an intense glare. Mai's throat suddenly turned dry. A Feraligatr? A Water type! No…this was a nightmare. A horrible sense of dread filled Mai's body and a cold sweat drenched her. No matter how good Charizard was, there was no way he could stand up to a Water Pokemon like Feraligatr…And if it was as well trained as the Banette and the Luxray were…Mai's already slim chances of winning had just been totally and utterly destroyed.

Kei couldn't watch as the Feraligatr under the brother's orders began a vicious onslaught of powerful water attacks. Charizard tried to take advantage of its wings and superior speed to dodge the majority of the Feraligatr's attacks, but after a few successive hits, the Charizard began to tire quickly.

"Come on, Charizard! Use Dragon Claw!" Mai ordered when she caught sight of an opening as the Feraligatr rested momentarily after one of its attacks.

Charizard flew in quickly to strike the Feraligatr with razor sharp claws. Taking the hit, the Feraligatr staggered backwards but then in response began powering up a Hydro Pump move.

Mai thought fast. "Charizard! Use Fly!"

Just as the Feraligatr let loose the torrent of pulsing water, Charizard pushed itself up higher into the air, effortlessly gliding out of the way of the Hydro Pump and the subsequent Water Pulse attack. Charizard flew so high up in the air that he was a mere speck against the sky and any attacks fired on him petered out before they were even close to reaching him. Then all of a sudden, Charizard was speeding down towards Feraligatr!

"Feraligatr!" a rare hint of panic showed in Mai's brother's voice. "Shoot that overgrown lizard down!"

"Come on Charizard!" Mai begged as the Feraligatr began shooting blasts of water at the incoming Charizard. "Dodge, please!"

She didn't have much to worry about as Charizard began expertly weaving between the blasts of water, getting closer and closer to the Feraligatr. Everyone in the crowd held their breath, Kei included; whose heart had dropped to his stomach.

"_Come on, Charizard! You can do it! You can't _not _do it!_"

But then disaster struck. A well timed blast of water from Feraligatr hit Charizard dead on in the face, hitting him hard sending him flying back a good distance. He recovered quickly which was something and on Mai's orders, dived towards the Feraligatr again. But again, another blast of water got him right in the stomach and he was blasted backwards once more. He roared in his outrage and tried to dive into another attack, but this time his movements were slow and sluggish and he was clearly suffering from the effects of the Water type attacks now.

"We've got him now, Feraligatr!" Mai's brother sounded eager now, like an excited little child. "Use Hydro Pump once again!"

"Charizard!" Mai screamed tearfully as another perfectly executed Hydro Pump hit into Charizard.

The Charizard roared weakly and he crashed into the ground, no longer able to support himself in the air. For a moment it looked like it was all over, but Charizard didn't give in. He still forced himself to his feet and faced the Feraligatr with every intention to keep battling, much to Mai's screams of protest.

"Charizard! Enough! Please!" Mai screamed as another torrent of water was blasted into Charizard's body. "You've done enough, please!"

But Charizard wasn't going to give up. His whole body was shaking with the effort of walking, the flame on the end of his tail had almost diminished and it was flickering ominously, a sure sign that he was weakened, but he still forced himself on. Mai was beside herself with worry and panic. She knew that if a Charizard's tail flame went out, the Charizard would die. He had done a good job of protecting his tail flame so far, but that meant nothing against the vicious relentless barrage of water coming from Mai's brother's Feraligatr…Charizard was weak now. He wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer…

Mai had to do something.

"Charizard, return!" she screamed, holding her Pokeball out. The red beam of light hit her Charizard and he was recalled to the capsule device once more. Mai breathed a sigh of relief when the ball became inactive in her hands and Kei, who had just broken in to a run towards Mai, his intentions having been to step in, stopped dead in his tracks. Mai's brother snorted in disgust, eyeing the Charizard's Pokeball in Mai's hands with disdain.

"You're pitiful, Mai."

Mai had opened her mouth to protest when suddenly the Pokeball began shaking and protesting! It rocked and swayed so violently that even though Mai tried her best to hold onto the ball, knowing all too well that Charizard was trying to get out and back into the battle, she could not hold onto it for long. The Pokeball hit the ground hard and reopened, Charizard released in a burst of white light, roaring defiantly.

"Charizard, what are you _doing_?" Mai demanded of her Pokemon.

He roared and flapped his wings, launching himself in the air. His tail fire was still burning but couldn't have been anything more than half as strong as it was normally. Mai was terrified. She knew her Charizard better than she knew anyone, including herself _and _including Kei. Charizard had so much goddamn pride…he couldn't stand losing to anyone and would fight valiantly on even if the odds were completely stacked in the enemy's favour. Normally Mai somewhat admired that quality, but against such a vicious Water Pokemon…Mai knew he couldn't win.

"_I have to stop this!_" Mai thought desperately to herself. "_if he keeps going like this, he'll be killed!_"

Mai couldn't keep her eyes off Charizard's tail flame as he launched himself back into the fray. A powerful Water Pulse attack was enough to knock him from the air and he was blasted with attack after attack, but still Charizard shook them off, trying to get close enough to Feraligatr to attack. He tried again and again to attack from the air, knowing he would at least have some advantage from there, but every time he tried he was knocked down. The suffering and pain was so apparent on his face that it made Mai's heart sore and Kei winced with every hit that made contact.

Mai was soon on the verge of hysterics. Charizard wouldn't take a direct order from her, he wouldn't go into his Pokeball, and her brother's Feraligatr was vicious and unyielding, blasting attack after attack at Charizard who stubbornly refused to back off and admit defeat! Even worse, Charizard's tail flame was barely alight now, only a tiny little flicker of fire in danger of being extinguished completely with the next hit! In the middle of it all, Mai's brother stood there stoically, not even giving the order to his Feraligatr to stop before it killed the Charizard.

"Brother, stop this!" Mai screamed, now seeing no other alternative. "You…you don't have to do this!"

He just turned and fixed Mai with a cold stare. Feraligatr stopped its onslaught as his master turned to Mai instead of giving him orders. It was just as well that he did; Mai's Charizard looked like he was on the verge of unconsciousness.

"You'll kill him, brother! You'll kill my Charizard! Please, don't do this!"

The brother raised an eyebrow. "Mai." He said. "I _will_ spare your Charizard an untimely death. I mean, after all, I would hate for you to lose such a powerful Pokemon…" he looked over the Charizard, almost hungrily, Kei thought.

"Yeah…?" Mai's voice was shaky as she looked at her quivering, shivering Charizard. He was weak and panting heavily, a mere shadow of the insanely powerful Pokemon he normally was. "You will, will you? What's the catch?"

"Always straight to business, aren't you, my dear sister?"

"Just tell me!"

"Very well, very well." He waved his hands in mock innocence. "I will spare your Charizard from a watery grave, _if _and only if… you agree to come with me."

Kei's heart stopped.

Mai looked a little shocked at first, but then regained herself. "Why?" she demanded.

"The "why" wasn't part of the deal, Mai." Her brother said coolly.

"I won't go with you unless I know why you seem to need me so badly that you feel you have to spread a rumour about some contest to lure me here, send a guy to _capture _me and then threaten my Charizard with _death_ if I don't come! Honestly! We're brother and sister after all! If you wanted to speak to me, you could have called me! Or visited me at home! I mean…what have you done that…that you have to go about it this way? Now, _tell _me why you seem to need me so much!"

Her brother merely smiled. "I suppose it wouldn't do you any harm to know. It's all a matter of talent, after all."

Kei, who was close enough to hear that strange declaration frowned just as Mai did. The crowd started to make annoyed noises and shuffle about, beginning to get frustrated and bored at the lack of action.

Mai spoke first. "What exactly do you mean…?"

"You're a talented kid, sis. God knows it runs in the family. It's been a long time since someone made me lose not just one Pokemon, but _two _in a battle! Obviously your reputation as Elite is well deserved. You're a strong trainer. And that's exactly what I need."

Mai frowned deeply, looking at her brother in complete confusion. "You need…strong trainers? For what?"

"That, I can't tell you." He said, tapping his nose infuriatingly. "Top secret."

Mai sighed and rubbed her temples. "_What in the hell is going on here_?"

"Mai." Her brother's voice cut across her thoughts. "Well? What's your decision? Coming with me…or allowing your Charizard to die by the hands of my Feraligatr?"

Mai looked back at her distraught, weakened Charizard. If she had looked a little to her left she would have seen Kei frantically mouth something and make a cutting motion across his throat, a mixture of looks of fury and intense worry creasing his face. In any other situation, Mai would have probably found it a funny scene to watch if she had seen it.

She let out another sigh and admitted defeat. She seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. "…I guess…I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"No. You don't," Her brother said with finality, grinned, and then folded his arms.

At that point, Kei couldn't take it anymore. "Mai!" he shouted loudly, causing both her and her brother to look up. His legs as if they had a will of their own made him run up to them immediately. He stood right next to Mai, looking her straight in the eye with a fierce determination Mai hadn't seen anywhere but on the battlefield before. "You don't have to go with him!"

"Oh, yes she does!" Her brother snarled. "You keep your interfering nose out of my business, you little brat! This doesn't concern you!"

"If it's about Mai then yes, it does concern me!"

The brother scoffed and looked at Kei with a repulsed attitude. He then looked at Mai, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "Awww, isn't that _sweet_?" he mocked with an acid tongue "Mai's got a _boyfriend!_"

"What…? No…!" Mai protested, her face tinged with a girly blush even though the situation was so serious.

The brother laughed again, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh this is hilarious," He looked Kei up and down disapprovingly. "Hmm. I don't think much of him, Mai. Come on now, you can do better than _this _freak show."

"That's enough!" Kei snapped. "We're not talking about me, here!"

"Aww, sticking up for her, are we?"

"You're damn right I am."

"Forget it, kid. I can see you're a Pokemon trainer too," he said, eyeing the Pokeballs hanging from around Kei's waist. "But you haven't got a hope in hell of beating me."

"Maybe not, but you are _not _taking Mai!" He moved around to stand in front of Mai protectively.

"Pfft. Who do you think you are, kid? Some divine protector or something? You make me laugh. Mai, come on. We're going now."

"Oh…okay…" Mai's voice was a mere whisper as she tried to dodge around Kei to join her brother, but a sudden hand around her wrist stopped her. She looked up at the face of her captor. "K…Kei?"

"You're _not _going, Mai." Kei reiterated firmly. "I won't let him take you."

"But…but Charizard—"

"Will be fine, I promise you. But _you_ won'tbe if you go with him."

"Kid, this is getting old. Hand her over." Her brother's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Now."

"No." Kei repeated. His voice was loud and confident, not quivering and shaking like it had been earlier. His hand was so tight around Mai's wrist that she felt the danger of her blood supply being cut off completely, but at the same time she felt like she was safe with him. She felt secure.

Mai's brother blew out, exasperated, ruffling the fronds of his brown hair hanging over his pale forehead. He pinched the bridge of his nose in a tortured fashion. "Kid, you do _not _want to make me wipe you out as well."

"Go ahead and try. I could take you!"

"Oh, you could now, could you?" a malicious grin that Kei did not like one bit flashed across Mai's brother's face. He seemed to consider it and then shrugged. "No. That would just take too long." He looked Kei squarely in the face, the two men both equally determined to get what they wanted. "You seriously won't hand her over?"

"No. Never in a million years."

"Hmph. Then I guess I'll have to use force then!"

Proving that strength wasn't all measured in just Pokemon battling, Mai's brother grabbed Kei by the shoulders and tossed him aside as easily as if he was a rag doll. Kei let out a involuntary yell in surprise and protest, as he was thrown to the ground. He hit ground hard, jarring his arm nastily as he made contact, a sickening crack sounding with the impact. He groaned and clutched at his arm, but didn't get up again.

"Kei!" Mai screamed for her friend, meaning to go to him, but her brother caught her forcefully by the arm. He twisted it slowly, as if savouring her squeals of pain. No matter how hard she struggled, he wouldn't let go and she couldn't wrench himself from him. She looked up to him with wide fearful eyes.

A nasty glint appeared in the brother's eyes. "Oh, by the way…" He murmured, leaning in close to her, making her shiver. His breath tickled her neck as he whispered in her ear the words that sent an icy, paralysing fear down Mai's spine. "Deal's off."

Fear ricocheted through Mai's body. "What?"

"Feraligatr… Use Hydro Pump on the Charizard, now."

Mai screamed as the Feraligatr drew back at its master's command and fired a jet of water from its mouth that blasted straight past her, aimed right at her oblivious, already weakened Charizard…

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Cliffhanger much? Eeek! I'm sorry if you don't like too many cliffhangers...**

**I have decided that on AmpharosLover666's totally awesome suggestion that Mai's older brother is now (officially) called Alec! :) His name will actually be used in conversation in the next chapter.**

**You know, I have such a hard time coming up with Chapter Titles it's not actually funny. I get all these awesome ideas for really wicked puns or clever phrases at really inappropriate times like when I'm cooking or late at night or when I'm in the shower, and then when I actually get a chance to write them down, I've forgotten! *facepalm***

**I'm glad you've all responded so well to Kei's declaration to protect Mai at all costs! They so would make a sweet couple! (I haven't told my friend (the one who gave me the motivation to write this and whom the character of Kei is loosely based on) about the possible romance so shhhhh! *winks*) **

**Thanks to the dedicated readers and reviewers once more! AmpharosLover666: I'm running out of nice things to say about you...You know you're great. I don't need to say it. RunningWithWolves11: You are also great! There is a hint here in this chapter as to Mai's brother's motivations, but I'm sorry to say you're just going to have to keep reading to find out the whole truth! And finallly to ****rawrrxixeatxyou: I also find Kei's dedication to protecing Mai cute and I'm the author! . **

**Thanks also to all those who congratulated me on University! I forget that a lot of people who read my fics are American and not British and they might not know what a University IS, so basically it's the equivalent to a college in America. You go to uni to gain degrees and that :)**

**ALSO! Picture of Mai, Kei and Kei's Milotic has been posted on my magajin profile, so the link for that is on my profile page.**

**Jeeez, this is my longest author's note yet. **

**Please read and review if you can! :) **


	8. Coming to Terms

For Mai, the next few moments were a total blur.

Her eyes were squeezed so tightly shut all she could see was inky black. She could hear someone screaming. She didn't know if it was her or not. The noises of the rushing torrent of water sounded so close and so powerful! Her brother's grip was so tight and so strong that she couldn't drag herself away, but all the same, she suddenly felt her body being uprooted and yanked away, a protective arm around her. Then suddenly the noises of the rushing water seemed to stop and she could hear the roars of a Pokemon, but which Pokemon it was, she couldn't recognise over the sounds of her own screams. She heard her brother yell, but where he was in accordance to her, she didn't know.

"Mai! Mai! It's okay! Calm down!"

That was Kei's voice!

She opened her eyes. The brightness of the day shocked her. She looked up and found herself staring at Kei! She looked down and realised that Kei had his arm around her protectively. Right in front of her, her brother and his Feraligatr were lying dazed and paralysed on the ground, watched over by a hissing and spitting Jolteon, static sparkling from his body. A panicked look behind her revealed an amazing sight. Her Charizard was safe behind the massive body of Kei's Milotic. The serpentine Pokemon was cooing softly, weaving her body around Mai's Charizard, obviously concerned for him. Charizard could barely lift his head to acknowledge the Milotic's presence, that's how out of it he was, but he was safe! It was nothing short of a miracle.

Mai couldn't believe what had just happened. If it were any other time, she would have thought she was trapped in some kind of bizarre dream state or that she had hit her head somehow and this was all a hallucination. But it was real. She could feel it was real. She was nestled safely in Kei's protective embrace, could feel his arm around her waist, hear his sharp rapid breathing…she was almost certain she could feel and hear his heartbeat thudding in his chest. She tried to banish those suspect thoughts quickly and get back to reality. After all, what the _hell_ had just happened? She looked up at Kei again; just to be sure it was really him and found herself grinning.

"So…what are you now? Some kind of knight in shining armour or something?"

"Something like that," he grinned, but now that Mai had recovered slightly, she saw that his face was twisted in pain and red and shiny with sweat. She was confused until she saw his dominant right arm lying uselessly at his side looking limp, like it had been pulled too far out of it socket.

Terror gripped her. "Kei! Your arm! It's all—"

"It's…it's just dislocated," he tried to pass it off like it was nothing, but the pain was evident on his face and he grunted and murmured with the pain every time he moved, even slightly.

"So…what happened just there?" she whispered, untangling herself from Kei. It occurred to her that there was nothing at that point she wanted more than to stay there in his safe grasp, but if one of his arms was already hurt, she had to release his only working one in case something else happened!

"Nothing much really," Kei straightened up a little, wincing with the pain. "I let Milotic out to take the brunt of the Feraligatr's attack and then used Jolteon to stop those two, making it easy for me to get you out of the way. Simple, really."

"Yeah…"simple"…" Mai said in stunned awe looking up at her friend. How had he done that…? How had he done all that; releasing two Pokemon, giving them orders and then grabbing Mai herself in a blink of an eye? It was nothing short of incredible. "Kei…I…" she struggled to find the words to express what she wanted to say, but after stuttering for a while she settled for a simple "thank you…"

"Hey, you can thank me later. I only did what any other friend would do!" he shot her a wide grin, making Mai's heart leap. "Anyway…" he became serious again. "I think we've got bigger problems to contend with anyway…"

Mai's brother was slowly getting to his feet; the paralysis from Kei's Jolteon was beginning to wear off. "You…you little runt!" he spat as Jolteon growled and hissed. Kei gave no orders for the Jolteon to attack and Mai's brother staggered to his feet without being further hindered.

As quickly as she could, Mai recalled Charizard to its Pokeball. This time he did not struggle against it and remained inside. Mai was glad of this, but with Charizard now in his ball, Mai was pretty much defenceless. Turns out, she didn't need to worry as Jolteon and Milotic stood next to Mai and Kei respectively, forming a protective guard. Next to Mai, Jolteon began hissing, sparkling with electricity and next to Kei, Milotic was looking uncharacteristically fierce as Mai's brother finally was able to stand upright.

"You meddling little bastard!" Mai's brother's spat viciously, recalling the knocked out Feraligatr. He pulled out another gleaming red Pokeball from the belt at his waist.

Both Mai and Kei tensed. Kei quickly ushered Mai behind him with his free arm, fiercely staring the brother down. Kei's face looked confident and he was, to a point, having a decent plan of attack formed in his head, but there was no way to predict this guy's actions or what the outcome could be. Anything could happen.

"I'll teach you to mess with me!" Her brother shrieked, getting ready to throw the Pokeball when suddenly a loud, incessant and overall annoying chirrupy melody began echoing all around them. Mai and Kei looked around dumbly before they realised the sound was coming from the direction of Mai's brother.

"What the hell…?" Kei said to himself, puzzled, as the tune started up again, as if it was on a constant loop.

Mai's brother swore, delved into the pockets of the coat he had previously thrown on the ground and brought out a stylish state of the art mobile phone. He slid the top half of the phone up, hit a button, pressed the phone to his ear and snapped "What?" into it.

Mai and Kei obviously couldn't hear what the person on the other end of the phone was saying so they paid special attention to what her brother was saying, straining sometimes to hear the finer details. They were so caught up in the suddenness of this bizarre situation that they didn't even notice what a prime opportunity it could have been….

"I'm right in the middle of something here, you idiot! You should know better than to call me when I'm on the field! I—" A pause. The brother's face rapidly changed into surprise, then panic and then anger. "What? When? Well, how did that happen!" A long pause. "Then go _after _them, for God's sake! This is too important a job for _idiots _like you to screw up for me!" Another pause, Mai and Kei hanging on every word

The brother's face started to twist in anger. "What? Are you kidding me? You need me _back_? I'm right in the middle of something important here!" Another pause, this one much longer. "Fine. All right. I'll come back." A brief pause. "You need me back right _away_? But I'm this close to apprehending another trainer for the—" He was cut off abruptly and he didn't say anything for a long time, then he exploded. "FINE! I'm on my way." And with that, Mai's brother slid down the phone and turned his attention to Mai and Kei for the first time in what felt like ages.

He smirked. "You're very lucky, you two. Duty calls and all that. I think I'll just chalk this one up to a "scouting mission", we'll say." He chuckled. "I'll admit, I didn't count on _you_ being here," he directed his words directly to Kei. "If you'd stepped in when dear little Mai had been wiped out, I don't think I could have taken you on and still won. Oh dear. At least I'll know for next time."

While he was talking, he picked out another Pokeball and tossed it to the side, revealing a Salamence. Before either Mai or Kei could do anything about it or even realise what he was doing, he had put on his coat and clambered onto the Salamence's back. "Mai, you're a far better trainer than I could ever have thought. And your little friend there…I'll admit, I don't know much about you, but my initial impressions are good." He chuckled humourlessly. "Mai, I already had you in my sights, but now…I would consider you_ both_ as prime candidates." Another wicked grin appeared on his face before he gave the order for Salamence to fly him to "base". "Until next time…and believe me, there _will _be a next time,"

With that, his Salamence let out a mighty roar before it flew off into the air, carrying Mai's brother away. Kei suddenly snapped back into his senses, swore and turned around to give Jolteon the order to use a Thunder attack to shoot them down, but Mai stopped him by grabbing onto his arm.

"No, Kei…let him go…"

Kei looked at his friend in confusion at first, but then smiled, patting her lightly on the head. He let out a long sigh, wincing slightly as he jarred his dislocated arm again. People from the crowd were starting to run up to them, shouting and jostling each other, but Mai and Kei barely even noticed. Mai had retracted into herself so deeply she didn't pay any attention to_ anyone_ until eventually Kei started speaking to her...then she was instantly tuned back into reality…

"You know, Mai? After all this madness, you know what I could really go for? A nice big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and squirty cream! Think we could find a nice little place that does that?" Kei grinned at her happily, but how he didn't start screaming with the pain as someone started poking and shifting his arm about trying to assess the damage, Mai would never know.

Mai looked at Kei, trying so hard to be casual and calm and not making a big fuss over everything, even considering the huge shock and magnitude of what they had just experienced. He had tried so hard to valiantly protect her from her brother when she had given up all hope, and he had almost had his arm broken for his troubles. He had been so brave even now in the face of his pain, and she…she had just crumbled. She had let herself down, Kei down, her Pokemon down… She was so ashamed of herself.

"Hey, Mai…" Kei bent down a little to her level, noticing her sudden reluctance to speak and the telltale quiver in her lip. "It's okay. It's all over now."

Mai looked at Kei once more and then burst into tears.

* * *

"You know, considering_ I_ was the one who almost got his arm broken you've done a _lot _more crying than me…"

"Oh, shut up." Mai said darkly from the other side of one of the Hearthome City hospital examination rooms, still sniffling.

Kei just flashed her a grin, experimentally moving around his recently set in place arm again just to test that it was okay. The doctors had managed to mercilessly shove his arm back into place, an ordeal Mai shut her eyes and squealed through. It was no doubt painful for Kei too, but just like when they were standing at Hearthome contest hall, he kept up a brave face throughout the whole thing and didn't make a fuss at all.

Noticing a telltale danger sign; Mai going quiet, Kei decided it was time to lighten the atmosphere and he smiled wickedly. "You know what?"

Mai looked up. "What?"

"The docs say I should be able to dislocate my arm whenever I want to! That's an awesome skill, isn't it? Look, watch!" He slipped his arm out of the sling, grasped his shoulder blade and squeezed it hard, making it click slightly.

Hearing the click in his arm freaked Mai out and she responded the only way she knew how. "KEI!" she bellowed, startling him and making a few nurses walking past the room jump. "If you dislocate that arm of yours again, so help me I'll make sure it's dislocated _permanently_!"

Kei started laughing delightedly at Mai's threat, and it was then she realised that Kei had probably just said that to cheer her up, albeit, in his own weird way. She stopped, looked at her friend grinning madly as he tried to fit his arm back into his makeshift sling again and shook her head, allowing a smile to form on her face.

"You're hopeless, you know that?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say that," Kei hopped off the examination table. "I _have _saved you twice in like the past two days!"

Mai glared at him. "Tha…that's not—" she protested weakly.

"Relax, it's fine." Kei grinned. "I'm just teasing you."

Mai looked down at her feet, feeling the threat of tears again. Teasing or not…what Kei had said was true…He had saved her…

"_I shouldn't _need _to be saved!_" Mai thought to herself angrily.

Kei looked at his friend sadly; suddenly afraid he had said the wrong thing. "Mai…?"

"Kei…" she wrung her hands together. "I…I was an idiot."

"How were you an idiot?"

"I just was…" she said bitterly. "I couldn't beat my brother…and when I couldn't, I was ready to just give up…What does that say about me? And you, you were so brave! I was so willing to just give up and go with him, but you…you refused to let me go…you stopped him in his tracks and you…you _saved _me."

"Mai, come on now. That guy was like a super super _super _Elite trainer! I don't think there's a trainer alive that could have taken him! I mean, all I did was step in at the right time. Come on, I couldn't let him take ya. I know he's your brother and all and no offence to your family but that's guy's a nutcase!"

Mai managed a laugh.

Kei giggled and sat down next to her. However, the momentary flash of laughter that had graced her face had disappeared as quickly as it had come. She was holding one of her Pokeballs in her hands now, running it and pressing it fiercely along her palm. "I…just…I can't figure out why Alec needs me so desperately…"

"Alec?" Kei frowned.

"Oh…my brother…" Mai explained. "His name's Alec."

"Alec, huh…" Kei thought over the unremarkable name. How strange it was to match up such an unremarkable, common name to such an outstanding person of strength and skill. Then again though…Alec _looked_ like the kind of person you'd automatically glance over in a crowd…the one you'd never really think much of. That went to show _just _how deceiving appearances could be.

"Yeah…I mean, what on earth was he on about needing "strong trainers"?" Mai let out a long, tortured sigh. "Why does he need me so badly he practically lures me here, then sends some guy after me, then threatens to kill my Charizard if I don't go with him!"

"I don't know, Mai." Kei said truthfully.

Mai shuddered. "Just think though…what would have happened if he hadn't got that call…? What would have happened if he didn't leave just then…? He could have won against you and…and…I would be God knows where by now!"

"Mai, calm down. There's no point in upsetting yourself any more. Look, nothing bad happened! We're here, we're safe and that's the important thing,"

"Yeah…you're right." Mai nodded. "But Alec's still going to be back for us…isn't he? He thinks we're "good candidates"…whatever that means."

"Yeah. He probably will be back sometime," Kei stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the darkening skies. "But it's okay, isn't it? We'll be ready for him next time."

Mai didn't say anything. She looked tired, worn down and she was noticeably struggling to keep a hold of all the emotions she was no doubt feeling. Sure, she had cried once right back when she knew it was all over, and rightly so, but she had regained composure pretty quickly when they got to the hospital. Kei knew Mai very rarely displayed emotions that weren't anger or stubbornness, but Kei was amazed that Mai hadn't yet broken down completely in the face of all this confusion and drama and high strung emotion.

"_She's pretty incredible to have stayed mostly calm and not get all angsty like I expected her to be. If _I _had just been caught up in an intense Pokemon battle with the brother I hadn't seen in like nine years and had seen all my Pokemon viciously defeated in front of me, I'd have been a wreck! Not only that, if the brother wanted to _capture _me and take me away somewhere claiming he needed "strong trainers" or something like that…God…I wouldn't be handling this anywhere near as well as Mai is. She's very brave._"

"Come on, Mai. Let's go and get a bed for the night."

The two trainers found a double room in a Pokemon Centre and settled down for the night. Mai didn't speak much, Kei noticed as she ate dinner and took the responsibility of healing and attending to her Pokemon. As the night drew in, she slowly managed to get back into her normal mannerisms, slowly getting louder and louder and reverting back to being impatient and quick tempered with Kei. He was happy with this for once, happy to see her getting back to normality and he made a big thing of playing up to her, trying to cheer her up. He thought it had worked, until late that night when Mai obviously thought he was asleep.

She had released her Raichu to keep her company in her bed before they had settled down to sleep. Kei never thought much of this; she often slept with her Pokemon, especially when it was cold at night. But now…she had her arms wrapped around him, her face buried in his soft furry body and she was sobbing, using Raichu's body to muffle the noises. Kei was torn between getting up and trying to comfort her and leaving her to it, in his heart knowing that it was best for her to work through her grief by herself…In the end, though it almost killed him to do nothing and he feigned sleep until eventually Mai cried herself out and became still…

It was probably the longest night of his life.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Phew! Sorry for the long wait! I feel bad, subjecting you guys to such a long wait on such a cliffhanger!**

**This chapter was so difficult to write; that's why it took so long. That and all the paperwork and forms for uni...**

**My awesome regular reviewers RunningWithWolves11, rawrrxixeatxyou and Ampharoslover666, you guys are awesome and I would thank you individually but I have soooo much work to do at the moment! Sorry for putting you through a horrible wait and making you think I killed off Charizard...**

**Read and Review if you can! **


	9. Always a Woman

**Disclaimer: Song used here "She's Always a Woman" is in no way mine, it is copyrighted to singer Fyfe Dangerfield. I just thought it was an awesome song and in its entirety I think it fits this chapter and the relationship between Mai and Kei! :) Since we're disclaimer-ing, Pokemon is also in no way mine. I just write about it. **

* * *

The next day, as Mai woke up after a surprisingly refreshing sleep, it was already late morning, bridging on early afternoon and the room was filled with bright golden light. She stretched happily, suddenly feeling very content. She felt like nothing could ruin this moment of blissful silence…but then, of course, something did. She heard someone singing. Very badly.

"_She can kill with her smile; she can wound with her eyes…"_

Wincing at the tone deaf voice, she turned her head slowly and was greeted with the sight of Kei, fully dressed, minus his makeshift sling, standing at the other end of the room, folding clothes away into his backpack. The mini radio on his Pokegear was tuned into a modern music station and Kei was singing along to one of Mai's favourite songs.

"_She can ruin your faith will her causal lies; and she only reveals what she wants you to see…_"

Only problem was he was murdering it.

"_She hides like a_— YEOW!"

A well aimed pillow in the face soon put a stop to the merciless murdering of Mai's favourite song. Kei blinked in surprise as the pillow slid down his face and even Raichu looked a little taken aback at this display of violence. Both looked at Mai with identical looks of confusion.

"Kei, you were _murdering _that song!" Mai offered as an explanation. "It sounded like you were strangling something!"

Kei grinned as he picked up the pillow and threw it back at her, good naturedly. She was almost back to her old self again, he thought delightedly as she sat up in her bed, flashing him a smile. He was glad to see that, especially after she had been so upset the previous night. He turned off the radio, amid Mai's protesting and threw a bundle of her clothes at her, telling her to get dressed.

"Dressed?" she whined looking at the strange mishmash of clothes her had thrown to her. "Can't I stay in bed?"

Kei smiled. Although it would have been a good idea to let Mai sleep and relax a little after her ordeal the previous day, Kei also knew that the best thing for Mai was to get her out and about doing things to take her mind off it. Let her lie in bed for too long and her mind would probably fester, and she could work herself up too much. So he had let her have a _bit_ of a lie-in whilst he slipped out and organised something for them to spend the day doing.

"Nope!" he grinned. "You've already had a long lie and _besides _I've already got something great planned!"

"What?" Mai frowned. "You've got something _planned_? What are you on about? I don't have time for any plans!"

"Why not?"

"Well…I was hoping to do some training…"

Kei sighed. He had been expecting something like that. He knew that Mai, in light of her devastating defeat by her brother, would inevitably want to prepare for the next battle she would have with him. He didn't think that was a good idea and it was precisely for this reason and others that he had arranged something for them to do.

"Mai, you can train any day! You can train tomorrow! I'll even _help _you train tomorrow! But today, I'd _reaaally _like to do something fun!"

Mai decided to humour him. "Like what?"

"We're in Hearthome city, right?"

"Riiiiight?"

"So, what's Hearthome famous for?" he didn't even wait for her to answer and babbled on blithely. "Contests! That's right! You and me are going to go and watch the best of the best in a Pokemon Contest!"

Mai frowned at him. Was he all there in the head? "Kei, aren't you forgetting something?"

He looked at her innocently. "What?"

"Kei, we blew a big crater right in front of the Contest Hall." Mai deadpanned, crossing her arms, remembering with some embarrassment the unholy mess and devastation they had caused outside the contest hall the previous day. "There's no way they'll be holding a Contest today."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong!" Kei grinned like a conjurer about to pull off his most impressive magic trick. "I even went down earlier on today when you were still snoring in your bed!"

"Snoring?" Mai repeated shrilly, insulted.

Kei ignored her and carried on. "I mean, _sure_ there's a great big hole in middle of all the fancy ground work, but they put all that funny yellow tape around it to stop people going near it. Besides, it doesn't even look that bad now! I even asked one of the coordinator guys about it! They are _definitely _holding a contest there today!"

"Wait a minute…" Mai was confused at this. "So…there really _was _some big contest going on that the best of the best were going to attend?"

"Looks like it." Kei shrugged. "Just not a battling contest."

"And just not yesterday," Mai sighed, bringing her knees to her chin.

"Hey, don't look so gloomy!" Kei grinned happily. "Come on, come on, get dressed! We've got a contest to go to! It starts in half an hour, let's go, let's go!"

Mai grinned. She had to admit, spending the day at a Contest with Kei sounded like a pretty good idea. Like he said, she could train any day. "Well get out then!" Mai playfully chucked another pillow at Kei which he ducked away from. Still giggling like a schoolgirl, Kei left the room to give Mai her privacy.

Mai shook her head at Kei's retreating back, waited until he closed the door behind him before slipping out of bed and pulling out some suitable clothes to wear.

"Rai! Rai! Raichu!"

Mai turned to Raichu as she held up two tops, one patterned with varying shades of purple, another yellow with a cute motif. She held one up against herself then replaced it with the second, then reconsidered the first. "Raichu? Which one do you like better?" she asked. "The purple or the yellow?"

"Rai!" Raichu hopped across the bed and tapped the purple one twice with his paw.

"The purple?"

Mai put the yellow one down and slipped into the purple one, admiring the way the fabric clung onto what little curves she had giving at least the illusion of a nice figure. As she pulled on a pair of jeans, a thought occurred to her. Why on earth was she fussing so much about her clothes when she was just going out with Kei like any other time? Realising how dressy and formal the purple one looked; she ripped it off and threw it back on the bed. Raichu's ears and tail drooped as Mai pulled the yellow one over her head. She looked at the billowing yellow fabric hanging loosely over her skinny body and wished she looked more womanly. Some secret part of her wondered if having a more curvaceous body would make a difference...if having a better figure would make Kei more interested in her…

"_Oh my God, Mai, you seriously need to get a hold of yourself_!" she told herself fiercely as she tugged a brush through her black hair. "_Kei's my friend, nothing else! God… all that stuff to do with Alec must have been messing with my brain more than I thought…_"

A dark shudder reverberated through Mai's spine as she inadvertently reminded herself of Alec. The hand holding the brush feel loosely to her side as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She turned her face to the side and back again experimentally. She hated looking as young as she did and to add insult to injury, she wasn't really pretty either. Sure she had a cute looking face, but that was about it. Nothing about her really stood out. Nothing apart from those coffee coloured eyes. She looked deep into the eyes of her own reflection and could not help but see the face of her own brother staring back at her…

"Mai!" Kei's voice behind the door startled her and she dropped her hairbrush in her fright. It made an alarmingly loud noise against the floor. "Mai! Hurry up in there! We haven't got all day!"

"Uh…coming!" Mai called back.

She quickly recalled Raichu to his Pokeball, grabbed her backpack, took one last look in the mirror to make sure she looked at least vaguely presentable and then ran out the door to meet Kei.

"There you are! At last!" Kei grinned as Mai closed the door behind her and stood in the hall. "What took you so long?"

"I couldn't decide what to wear…" Mai said grumpily.

Kei frowned at her. That was an unusual thing for Mai to suddenly come out with; normally_ he _spent longer deciding what to wear than Mai. That wasn't down to him being a fussy dresser, not at all; it was that Mai, unlike the vast majority of girls her age normally didn't give a damn about what she wore. He looked at her oddly. "You didn't know what to wear?" he repeated, just to be sure.

"Yeah…" she snorted. "I wanted something that would at least give the _illusion _I wasn't an eleven year old boy. But I gave up," she sighed, indicating the yellow t-shirt.

"Aw, come on, Mai!" Kei grinned. "You don't wanna look like some big busted bimbo! That's not who you are! Besides, I think you look fine!"

"What?" Mai looked at him, her heart leaping. "You do?"

"Course I do!" he said and Mai could have sworn she caught a hint of seriousness in his voice, but it was gone as soon as it came to be replaced with that childish exuberance one again. "Come on, we are seriously gonna be late! I wanna get there quickly and grab the best seats!"

With that, Kei grabbed Mai by the wrist and began energetically pulling her down the corridor, laughing and giggling like he was a little kid.

* * *

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! _Damn it_!"

With every fierce expletive, Alec sunk a vicious kick into the wall of the silver patterned room. Nearby, lounging on an expensive looking grey sofa, a stunningly attractive Russian woman was watching him intently. She made a strange purring sound, swung her long legs over the couch and stood up. While Alec was intent on taking out his temper on the beautiful interior of the lounge, the Russian woman, also Alec's partner in the organization he headed, slowly sashayed up to him. She wound her arms tight around his neck and pulled his body into hers. He struggled at first, but he eventually became still, calmed by her embrace.

"Ohh, Alec…" she purred in her smooth Russian accent, particularly savouring the sound of his name on her tongue. He loved the way she pronounced his name, making it sound foreign and exotic and interesting in her native accent."You're so angry. What makes you this way?"

All thoughts of calm were immediately forgotten and his anger returned to him in a flash. "You know damn well fine, Irina!" Alec hissed, throwing Irina's arms off of him and stalking forward a few steps.

"So what if a few of the trainers have escaped?" she shrugged nonchalantly. "We can always find more."

"It's not about them!" Alec snapped.

"Then what? You're upset that you couldn't take your sister too?"

"You're damn right I'm upset!" Alec bellowed. "She was a perfect candidate for this whole thing! She had potential! How many other trainers have you seen that could take out _my_ Pokemon? If only that other boy hadn't been there I would have been able to take her!"

"But it is all fine, Alec." Irina said, smoothing her hands over Alec's tight shoulders, beginning to massage them. "You say the boy has potential too."

"Huge potential…" he admitted, already feeling himself relax under Irina's expert hands. That was another reason he had picked her from hundreds of ideal candidates to be his partner. Her skills didn't stop at just being an incredibly strong Pokemon trainer. "Perhaps even more so than Mai…"

"So what will you do?"

"Simple, really." Alec let out a low groan of pleasure as Irina's massage started to work its magic. "Once we manage to fix all the screw-ups the lower ranks managed to pull while I was gone…" he laughed humourlessly as he remembered the state of disarray the headquarters had been in when he returned. "Then we go and take them."

"We?"

"Of course, _we_. I'm not a foolish man and I am certainly not arrogant enough to believe I could take them both at once. They're strong trainers _and _they probably have a good grasp of how I battle now. I fear that if I were to battle the two of them at once I would be simply overwhelmed. I'm only one man after all."

Irina made another strange purring sound.

"But you, my dear…" Alec twisted his body around so he could look his partner, his handpicked partner, straight in her deep green eyes. "_You_ are my trump card. They won't be expecting you. Will you do it?"

A sharp grin spread across Irina's face. "You need not even ask, Alec."

* * *

"Aw, come on! That was so not worth those points! That was just a bunch of fancy ass golden sparkles! Come on! We wanna see some action up here!"

"Mai, sit down!" Kei hissed, mortified as Mai, seeing the scores given for a challenger's Beautifly began protesting at what she felt was a gross over scoring. Very very loudly. Her loud yells could even be heard above the applause and announcer's comments and she was standing up in her seat, shaking her first in the direction of the judges' table.

"What is _with _these people?" Mai demanded, heavily sitting back in her seat. "How could they give _that _such a high score? It's just a bunch of golden glitter, jeez!"

"Easy, Mai…" Kei grinned sheepishly as a few people turned around in their seats to look at Mai. "Those guys down there are professionals. They know what they're—"

"All right, yeah!" Mai suddenly starting hollering in excitement as a new Pokemon was released into the arena, a tough looking Rapidash. "Whooo! That's what I'm talking about! Finally some action!"

"Mai!" Kei hissed again, wishing he could just slink down in his seat and pretend he didn't know the screaming girl next to her.

Mai watched excitedly as the Rapidash reared up and let loose a powerful ball of flame high into the arena. It neighed loudly before at the instruction of his trainer, used Bounce to jump high into the air. It turned around in the air in a graceful somersault before kicking its hard hooves into the ball, causing it to almost burst like a balloon, Mai thought. Tiny flames began raining down in the arena, accompanied by appreciative gasps of awe from the audience. The Rapidash landed neatly and neighed proudly as the last couple of flames hit the ground around it.

The scores flashed up a few seconds later and the crowd booed as the results weren't as they had expected. While most people just accepted it and compensated by simply feeling sorry for the trainer, Mai however made her disgust known.

"ARE YOU LOT BLIND! How the hell can you score him so low when all the other guy did was dance around a few sparkles? What the hell?"

"Mai, shut up!" Kei hissed through gritted teeth, but his request fell on deaf ears.

Mai was practically hanging over the, mercifully empty, chairs in front of her, shouting abuse in the direction of the judge's tables. She was beginning to attract the attention of a lot of people, even the ones sitting right at the back of the stadium. Kei sunk his head into his hands and made a low groaning sound. Little did he know things were only going to get worse…

"Excuse me?" a gruff voice came from behind them.

Kei looked up and came face-to-face with a burly looking man dressed all in navy blue and black, a Pokemon Kei recognised as Tyranitar next to him. Kei swallowed nervously as Mai continued to shout across the arena, totally oblivious to the two impressive figures standing nearby.

"Hi there!" Kei cried with false cheer. "How can I help you?"

"Your friend is making too much noise…" the burly man said in a stern voice. "We've had complaints from the competitors _and _the judging table. You're disturbing them."

"Oh, but it's not me!" Kei insisted at once as Mai finally realised what was going on and turned around to see the man looking at them. "It's not me! I…I don't even know this girl! I mean, seriously! I don't—who even _are _you?" Kei directed the last question at Mai who blinked in puzzlement.

"Kei, _what _are you talking about?" she asked.

"We're gonna get chucked out…" Kei murmured with a false grin.

"What? Chuck us out?" Mai looked up at the man in blue and black in a mixture of anger and confusion. "Why?"

"You're making far too much noise."

"Noise? I'm not making _any _noise!" she screeched, making Kei wince.

"Well, yes, you are." He corrected her. "The judges are complaining about it. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Leave? Why should I! I paid good money for this!"

"Actually, you didn't…" Kei corrected her sheepishly. "You don't pay to get in here…It's free…you just walk in."

Mai looked irked. "Well…it's still my right to be here!"

"Not when you're disturbing the competitors."

"What!"

Knowing that he would likely get more sense out of Kei than Mai, he turned to him, folding his arms officially. "I'm afraid you and your little sister will have to leave."

"LITTLE SISTER?" Mai yelled in disgust.

"What? Why me? I didn't do anything!" Kei protested frantically at the same time.

The man ignored Mai who looked like she was going to blow a serious fuse and spoke again directly to Kei. "If you can't keep her under control then you're just as guilty," he said flatly, glaring at the two trainers in turn. "And if you won't leave nicely I will have to escort you out."

The Tyranitar roared as if to emphasize its trainers point, startling a lot of spectators. Kei felt a hot blush spread over his cheeks as hundreds of eyes turned from the contest taking place in front of them to instead stare at him and Mai. She looked at the giant green reptilian type Pokemon, as if trying to weigh up the pros and cons of taking the issue further and then finally stood up.

"Good." The man said, watching Mai carefully as she stepped out onto the ascending stairs, her head held high, trying to muster up as much dignity as the situation would allow her. A mortified Kei slipped out after her.

Mai looked once more at the huge powerful Tyranitar and swallowed nervously. Sure she was a strong Pokemon trainer herself owning plenty of tough Pokemon, but even owning Pokemon like Gyarados and Charizard still failed to stop her from being uneasy around intimidating Pokemon like Tyranitars.

"Right, let's go. Move." The man growled.

"I can't believe this…" Kei murmured as he was forcibly shoved up the steps by Tyranitar and the security man when he dared to dawdle for a moment. For a moment though, they turned away, suddenly absorbed in another contender in the contest. If he hadn't been so humiliated he would have noticed a wicked gleam appear in Mai's eyes but he carried on blithely. "How embarrassing…I can't believe you've gotten us thrown out of her—Mai? Mai?"

Wondering why Mai hadn't been complaining like he would have expected her to be, Kei turned around to see Mai suddenly dart away from where she was standing and attempt to sneak past Tyranitar and the man back to her seat. However the attempt was in vain as the man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and caught sight of her immediately.

Kei supposed that it was kind of funny to watch as Tyranitar lifted up Mai as if she weighed nothing and carried her, kicking and screaming back up the steps. However he definitely _didn't_ think it was funny when the Tyranitar stopped in his tracks in front of Kei and swept him up onto its shoulders too and stomped out of the contest hall!

Mai kicked and screamed something about "unfair" and "how dare you" and "this is against my right to be here" and worryingly "I'll kill you if I ever get my hands on you again" all the way out, whereas Kei just kept silent. He tried not to look at the hundreds of people in the stadium and in the congregation area gaping at them. Who wouldn't gape at two teenagers, one incredibly rowdy, being carried out by a Tyranitar…? He could have sworn he even heard people laughing and seen the flashes of cameras going off.

They were dumped unceremoniously outside the stadium, well _thrown _in Kei's case; at least the Tyranitar had thought to lower Mai somewhat nicely to the ground. Trying to block out the sounds of the laughter coming from the people milling around outside, Kei sunk his head into his hands.

"I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. I can't believe you got us thrown _out_! We're supposed to be Elites! This is no way for us to act!"

"Don't start on me!" Mai yelled, agitated. "I mean, come on! All I did was get excited! We're not _supposed _to sit there all quiet! We're supposed to get enthusiastic and cheer and clap and make a big scene!"

"Mai, you were hanging over your seat screaming abuse at them…"

Mai crossed her arms angrily.

"And _why _did you try to sneak back to your seat?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to watch the contest…"

Kei groaned. "You had a funny way of showing it…"

"Aw, come on! That guy was an idiot! I can't believe he threw us out! And you know what was worse?"

"No, but I gotta feeling you're gonna tell me anyway…"

"He called me your little sister! Not just your sister, but your little sister! I can't believe this! I am sick of looking so _young_!"

"I'm just glad we didn't have a repeat of the incident we had with the sailor on the ferry over here…" Kei said darkly.

When Mai said nothing, Kei just let out a long sigh and looked at her, ready to launch into his rarely seen lecture mode. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her properly. She looked visibly upset. Not just angry, but upset, like she was on the verge of tears.

"Mai?"

"It's nothing." She said firmly, trying hard to keep her voice steady, but failing. "I'm just really sick of people thinking I'm a kid all the time…it's demeaning...not to mention seriously _annoying_!"

Kei looked at her. This was insane. Why was Mai all of a sudden so caught up in her looks? She never used to care this much…sure, she used to get irate about it, but she took it in good humour…now she seemed so hung up about it. Kei ached to know what was going on in that head of hers? Did she always have that kind of resentment about the way she looked? Or was it just that her emotions had gone into overdrive with the whole thing with Alec.

"You know, Mai? It doesn't really matter what you look like. At least not to me."

A surprised look passed across Mai's face and she looked at Kei. Then she seemed to change her mind about what she was thinking and shook her head vehemently. "Kei, you're my friend. You're biased."

He shrugged. "Maybe. Doesn't change the truth, though. You're not a kid. You just _look _like a kid. But inside, you and I both know you're all woman."

A fierce blush appeared on Mai's face at Kei's statement. He blushed himself at first after realising his statement had sounded a little…dodgy to say the least. He didn't mean it to come out the way it did. For a moment, both friends were silent, and then Mai started to giggle. Of course, that started Kei off and they were soon laughing their heads off, all awkwardness forgotten.

"Aw, Kei, you crack me up!" she laughed, aiming a fierce punch to his arm. Kei squealed as he felt the impact of her punch and then half his arm went numb. Thankfully it _hadn't _been the arm he had dislocated otherwise he would have been in serious bother…

"Well, that's me…" he grinned sheepishly. "The joker."

"Damn right." She grinned, and to his immense surprise, she suddenly leaned over and grabbed him in a hug.

The suddenness of such a rare display of affection shocked him at first, making him somewhat rigid, but then he returned her warm embrace, feeling the gentle curves of her body underneath her t-shirt.

"_Damn…I don't what she's got to worry about_," he thought to herself. "_This girl really is all woman. Always a woman. To me, at least."_

A grin spread across Kei's face and he jumped to his feet. "Now, come on, little woman!" he hoisted Mai to her feet, making her squeal. "Let's go and find somewhere to get a bite to eat! After all that ritual embarrassment I could sure use something sweet! Hot chocolate, maybe?"

Mai looked at him, thought about making an issue with Kei over his worrying chocolate intake, but ended up giving in. "Sure. Why not?"

"All right, last one there's buying! On-your-marks-get-set-GO!" He practically gabbled the last sentence so that it was almost indecipherable and then took off like the roadrunner, leaving a completely baffled and confused Mai in his wake.

It took her a few moments to process what had just happened. How had Kei gone from being so comforting and encouraging and then straight back to his childish and over-enthusiastic ways so quickly? Then again, this was Kei…he was a law unto himself.

Quickly realising Kei was fast disappearing from her sight and not really wanting to be saddled with buying expensive hot chocolate again, she broke into a run after him, screaming.

"Kei! I'm gonna kill you if I get my hands on you!"

The sounds of Kei's triumphant laughter filled her ears as she made numerous threats, each one sounding more and more dangerous, and often punctuated with curses that would shock a hardened pirate. For that moment all her angst and worries and insecurities disappeared and she felt happier than she had for a long time.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I'll keep this short, this has been a very very long chapter! Unfortunately not much really happens either...**

**Next two to three chapters will be filler and then the plot will begin again. **

**Apologies for the long wait; I've got a reading list for uni the length of my arm, so...Yay.**

**The usual readers and reviewers, I love you guys, you are awesome! :) **

**rawrrxixeatxyou: Yeah, I couldn't let Charizard be killed...and Kei got to play the hero again so he's happy! **

**RunningWithWolves11: Aww, so glad you like Kei so much! I love him too! Thanks for the compliment on the picture too! Mai is quite short and Kei is super tall, so they're an interesting combination! **

**Anyway, y'all know the code. Please read and review if you can! **


	10. The Chase

"Scyther! Use Night Slash now!"

Scyther! Scy!"

Scyther executed the attack perfectly; closing in on the tree with the primitive target scrawled onto it, courtesy of Kei's squiggley drawings, and effortlessly sliced the tree in two. The trunk of the tree slipped and slid down onto the ground, kicking up a huge dust cloud and sending a huge tremor through the earth.

"All right Scyther! Chop up that tree now with Slash!"

"Scy!"

Scyther flew up towards the tree again and with incredible speed and precision chopped up the tree into thin planks, each of exactly equal length and breadth. The planks fell to the ground in ordered stacks and Scyther dropped down in front of them, crossing his bladed arms proudly.

"Excellent!" Mai cheered, hugging Scyther. "You did so well! I'm proud of you!"

"Scyther! Scy!" Scyther chirruped happily as Mai recalled him to his Pokeball, officially ending the day's vigorous training.

"Finally!" Kei leapt up from sitting on the ground as Mai finished for the day. "You're finished! Now we can get lunch!"

"Honestly Kei!" Mai sighed. "Is your stomach all you can ever think about?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. Pretty much."

Mai blew out in exasperation, ruffling the strands of black hair on her forehead. She gave in, of course, like she always did. "Yeah…sure."

Kei cheered and the two of them started back on the ten minute walk into town. Kei wasn't exactly thrilled about the walk in the first place; Mai _had _to have picked a training spot so secluded from the city… but he would have taken a long walk back over sitting in silence watching Mai train for another five hours _any _day…

As they walked, Kei reflected on the events of the past couple of days. He hadn't really had much contact with Mai recently, due to the fact she was putting herself and her Pokemon through intense daily training regimes. These regimes didn't stop at practicing a few moves either. Mai pushed herself and her Pokemon to the very ends of their physical and often emotional capabilities, all the time insisting she was doing it to "get stronger". Kei knew why she had thrown herself into training like she had. It was obvious really. She wanted her Pokemon to get stronger, learn new moves, new tricks, _anything _so that she would maybe have more of a chance to beat her brother Alec when he came back.

Alec…

Thoughts about Alec weighed heavily on their minds, especially for Mai. Kei tried his best to make what little time he had with Mai more enjoyable, trying to get her to relax and forget about everything, but it proved difficult. Mai insisted on training every spare minute she had and even though Kei tried to be accommodating at first, even training alongside her and even _against _her for a few bouts, he knew that being too focused on it for practically twenty three hours of the day wasn't good for her. He tried to balance out all her practice with trying to do some relaxing activities to try and keep the stress away.

At first, it had taken him a long time to convince Mai that the world wouldn't fall apart if she took a couple of hours break. She eventually gave in, he was pretty good at getting around her after all, and on the second day, he eventually managed to drag her away from the training field. Good thing they weren't exactly short of things to do in Hearthome and Kei eagerly dragged Mai to as many sights and attractions as he could in the short space of time he managed to steal her away from her training.

Of course, Mai being Mai, there were a few instances where things didn't exactly go to plan. The most notable of these incidents was when Mai got herself barred from ever setting foot in Amity Square again after she attempted to sneak in with her Charizard after being told none of her Pokemon qualified as "cute" enough for her to enter. Kei was forced to sit through yet another embarrassing scene of Mai being forcibly removed from somewhere, but at least this time, he wasn't removed alongside her. Why she couldn't let Raichu (a Pokemon recently allowed to come in to Amity Square) to accompany her instead of insisting Charizard came with her, Kei would never know…

"We're never gonna be allowed back to this city again, you know?" Kei said, slurping up some chocolate milkshake through a straw. This was their "lunch". "You've gotten yourself kicked out of two places in three days. That's gotta be a record."

"Oh, shush." Mai said, spooning up cream from the top of her luxury frothy coffee. "This city is insane though. People can't go into places unless their Pokemon qualify as "cute"? Well who the hell decides what Pokemon are cute and what one's aren't! That's discrimination! Bah! I've bet they've got some kind of stuffy committee full of camp old men making these decisions…"

Kei just looked at her. "Mai, _what _are you talking about?"

She shrugged and began working through her strawberry tart, delicately scooping up the brilliant red strawberries. Kei picked up the giant wedge of fudge cake he had ordered and started chomping his way into it, scattering crumbs everyone. Mai set her fork down with a frown.

"Kei, for goodness sake, we're not cavemen! Use a fork!"

"Dun wanna!" he insisted childishly, spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Kei!" Mai protested, grabbing her strawberry tart and shielding it from Kei's barrage of crumbs.

"Sowwy!" he said through another huge mouthful.

Mai shook her head and took another mouthful of strawberry tart. She chewed it slowly, savouring its sharp and yet sweet flavour.

"Hey, Kei?"

"Hmm?" Kei looked up. His eyes were just peeking up over the white plate his fudge cake was on and Mai had a strong suspicion he was about to lick it.

"When are we going to move on?" she asked, choosing to ignore Kei's horrendously bad table manners.

"Whenever you want?" he suggested, putting his plate down. "But I thought you were quite happy here in Hearthome?"

Mai made a noncommittal noise.

"Okay," he shrugged. "So where do you want to go?"

"That's the thing; I don't know…" she admitted, toying with a piece of pastry. "I don't know many good places in Sinnoh."

"Do you have your Sinnoh map with you?"

Mai looked at him, her eyebrows arching slowly. "Kei, why would I have my map with me? I've been training all day. And I wouldn't exactly go back and pick it up just to go to lunch, would I?"

"Good point," he observed, casually leaning back in his chair. "Well, I _did _hear some trainers talking about some city close to here last night. I think it was called Pastoria or something?"

"Oh yeah!" the name rung a bell with Mai. "Isn't that where they have the Great Marsh?"

"The Great what?"

"The Great Marsh," she repeated. "It's kinda like Sinnoh's answer to the Safari Zone. It's supposed to have loads of rare Pokemon you can't find anywhere else in Sinnoh."

"Why do you wanna go catching more Pokemon?" Kei asked wearily. "I thought you were happy with your team."

"I _am_." Mai said, taking a sip of her coffee. "But I'd still like to see it. I think it would be fun!"

"If you say so," Kei shrugged.

"I do say so," Mai grinned. "Once we get back to the room I'll have a look at the map and see if I can figure out the best way to get there."

"All right," Kei shrugged nonchalantly.

"Excellent. We're decided," Mat took another small mouthful of her coffee.

Kei watched Mai take slow sips from her mug, realising she still had half her strawberry tart and almost all of her coffee left. He sighed and decided that for the time being, at least while Mai was insisting on eating so slowly, he deserved another milkshake and some more chocolate cake.

* * *

"Irina! Will you hurry up?"

"I am coming Alec," Irina purred, choosing to ignore the sharp tone in her partner's voice as she made her way down the stairs and into the hallway of their base. She frowned slightly as she made out the agitated figure of her partner pacing up and down the street through the glass panelled doors. She sighed, put on her best fake smile, fluffed up her hair slightly and mentally prepared herself for whatever mood her unpredictable partner was currently in.

She pushed open the door and then joined Alec in the bright sunshine, squinting slightly. For a moment, they stood outside the unremarkable looking office building that served as their headquarters, watching the people go about their daily business. Irina, dressed in a simple white dress and her hair tumbling loose in gentle curls around her shoulders, looked a vision of beauty against a backdrop of golden sun, but Alec for once was not interested. His mind was entirely focused on business.

"Irina, are you ready?"

"Of course I am, darling…"

"Excellent," he said, a grin spreading across his face. "I've left everything in the hands of a few of the higher ranks, so at least the place won't be in wrack and ruin by the time we get back,"

"So, where are we going, exactly?"

"Lake Valour."

"Lake Valour?" she repeated, sounding confused. "But I thought we are going to find your sister and her friend?"

"Not yet," he said officially. "We have more pressing matters to attend to. Besides, it's only been three days since we left them."

Irina frowned. "I don't understand, Alec. Surely it is best to get them as soon as possible…?"

"Irina…" Alec sighed, looking up into the sky. "You don't understand, Irina. I won't go after Mai and her friend just yet,"

She blinked in surprise. "And why not?"

"Because where would the fun in that be?"

"Alec…" Irina frowned deeply, trying to understand the motives behind her partner's actions. "What are you talking about?"

Alec smiled. "Oh, Irina…you really have no idea, do you…? Do you remember I told you that Mai was able to take out _two _of my Pokemon during our battle?"

She nodded. "Yes…she must be a strong trainer if she could do that."

"Yes. Of course she is a strong trainer. She's part of _my _family after all," he chuckled to himself at the thought. "But think about it, Irina for just a moment. If she is that strong _now_, imagine how strong she will be once she gets a chance to train…and there's no doubt that she will…"

Irina was beginning to tire of this pointless theoretical conversation. "I still don't understand," she said haughtily, making no secret of her impatience. "I thought you wanted to get Mai here as soon as possible, _use _her to achieve our goal, not _battle _her."

Alec snorted with laughter and turned to face her, his eyes glittering in a way Irina was not comfortable with at all. "Ah, poor naïve Irina." he patted Irina on her head like he was humouring a small child. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Alec!" Irina snapped, insulted by his demeaning nature, grabbed his arm and shoved him away. "Do not treat me like a child!"

"Sorry," Alec said insincerely, taking a few steps back from her. He knew all too well that annoying Irina was probably dangerous to his health and well being in more ways than one...He decided to try and pacify her as much as possible. "You're right though. I _do _want to get Mai here as quickly as possible, _but _I want to have fun while I do it. It's been too long since I had a real _challenge_."

"What? Do _I_ no longer count as a challenge?" Irina asked, folding her thin arms across her chest. "Were we not due a tiebreaker battle sometime soon, Alec?"

"Oh, my dear…" Alec laughed. "Those battles we had were just for fun, a way for me to determine your…ample strength," he grinned hungrily, a look of intense desire across his face just momentarily. "You and I are _partners _after all, my dear. We should not fight like…bitter rivals…" for a moment, all thoughts of business were gone from his mind. He could not resist her any longer and reached over, placing his strong hand on her delicate face, stroking it gently.

She slapped his hand away and her almond shaped eyes narrowed dangerously. He spread his hands in the picture of innocence and backed away quickly, knowing better than to annoy her further. He nonchalantly removed a Pokeball and tossed it to the ground, revealing his Salamence. He swung his leg elegantly over the Salamence, climbing up high, allowing Irina to climb up next to him. She put her arms around his waist at once, not even fazed by the closeness of the contact.

Alec gave the orders for Salamence to fly them to Lake Valour and to the shock of many passers-by; the rare Dragon Pokemon leapt into the sky and took off.

A triumphant thought entered Alec's head as Salamence brought them higher and higher into the air until the ground below became just a blur of interlocking colours. "_Excellent…this is all going exactly as I planned it…_"

* * *

"Kei! Put that map down! You're gonna rip it!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Kei flapped, trying to fold the map back the right way, but in his panic he couldn't collapse the map across the right folds and it ended up looking like a horribly constructed piece of origami.

"Give me that!" Mai growled, snatching back the delicate map from Kei's hands and unfolding it and spreading it out in a matter of seconds. "Jeez! And I thought it was women that weren't supposed to be able to read maps!"

Kei shrugged and shuffled closer to Mai to get a better look at the map she had spread out on the desk in their room back at the Pokemon Centre. Mai blinked at the suddenness of the contact between them and blushed slightly as he was suddenly so close, but she tried to ignore it and plot the way to Pastoria.

Within a few moments, she had decided the quickest and easiest way to get to Pastoria was to follow the convenient Route 212 south from Hearthome and after a very long walk they would arrive directly there. The thought of a very long journey, especially one on foot, made Kei whine and whinge, pleading with Mai to let them fly to Pastoria but Mai wasn't to be swayed.

"It won't do you any harm to walk!" Mai said firmly as they began packing up their things to start the journey. Even after Mai's intense training session and stopping for lunch, it was still only around two in the afternoon. With time as an advantage, Mai decided that they should start making their way down to Pastoria straight away.

As they made their way down from the Pokemon Centre and back into the city, Kei mourned sadly about having to say goodbye to the bustling exciting city. He would miss the hustle and bustle of a happening city. Most of all though, he would miss all the cafes he had found over the course of the few days…cafes that he had spent so much of his time in that a lot of the people working there knew him by name now. He was insufferable every time he passed one of his beloved cafes, desperate to go in for "just one last time". What's worse, he actually had to be forcibly dragged away when he caught sight of a new shipment of cakes coming in to the local bakery.

As the two of them went south under Mai's direction, Kei realised that leaving Hearthome was probably a good thing for her. She would get away from all the bad feelings and reminders of the issue with her brother. He had a feeling Mai would never associate Hearthome with good things now...her opinion on the city would always be tarnished with the horrible memories concerning her brother.

As they left the city it didn't take long for Kei to get very bored of walking. All there was to see in Route 212 was grass, trees, more grass, more trees, an occasional shrub, more trees and a lot of trainers. Much to Kei's horror he was even _recognised _by a few of the more geeky trainers (or _collectors _as they liked to be called) and after Kei freaked out at their gushings and admirations, he bolted. Only thing was, the geeky trainers gave chase. Thankfully for him, the chase didn't last for long, Kei was a surprisingly fast runner and the collectors tired quickly. Deciding it wasn't worth chasing someone even as well known as Kei for miles and miles, they retreated back to continue on with whatever geeks do. Mai of course was no help and she roared with laughter throughout the whole ordeal.

Deciding she really better go and find him after she saw him take off like the roadrunner into the distance, she followed him, still chuckling. After finding the vague area she had last seen him in, she started searching all the legitimate places a terrified eighteen year old like Kei could possibly have hidden. Try as she might, though she could not find him! It was only once she straightened up and looked towards the sky that she eventually caught sight of him. He was up a tree…

"Kei, what in the _name _of God are you doing up there?" she said in shock.

Kei put his finger to his lips and shushed her. "Are they gone yet?" he whispered urgently, his eyes wide with fear.

"Long gone," Mai grinned, folding her arms. "Even you aren't worth chasing down a whole route Kei, no matter how much the fangirls love you."

"Hey, they weren't fan_girls_!" He protested. "They were fan_boys_!"

"And? It's the same thing, isn't it?"

"I don't want to be chased around by a bunch of guys! It's not manly!"

"Oh, you close minded idiot…" Mai shook her head. The next words spilled out before she could even consider them in her mind. "I thought you would've _liked _to have been chased around by a bunch of guys."

Kei looked shocked. "Mai! What the hell do you take me for?"

"Well!" Mai grinned, getting into teasing mode, ready to launch into some great spiel, but she was distracted by the sounds of a tree branch snapping.

"Oh shit."

Kei barely got the words out of his mouth before whatever branch was supporting his weight collapsed. He squealed like a girl all the way down from the top of the tree and landed flat on his face on the hard ground.

As a bunch of loose leaves and a thick branch landed on top of Kei after him, Mai couldn't help it and burst out laughing.

"Not funny…" Kei protested, still lying on his face, his voice sounding muffled as Mai squawked with laughter.

"No, you're right…it's _very _funny!" Mai laughed hysterically as Kei picked himself up, gingerly inspecting himself all over for injuries. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"All this cos of some stupid fan_boys_!" he said emphasising the "boys" with a violent shudder.

"Oh, relax Kei…they can't hurt you. They got bored of running after you anyway. It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Kei repeated shrilly. "They could've _lynched _me!"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Mai said, but she couldn't help but laugh. "So you got chased by a couple of guys. Big deal. That's practically part of a good looking girl's daily life, so stop whining."

"Mmm…" he said noncommittally. "Hey, you shouldn't make fun of me! You've probably been chased like that by guys before…you should _know _how scary that is!"

Mai blinked in surprise. "What makes you think I have been?"

He shrugged. "Well like you said…it's common for a good looking girl…"

"Eh…" All that came out of Mai's mouth was a croak before a sudden violent blush invaded her cheeks. She looked at Kei, totally oblivious to the strange array of feelings he had just caused in her.

"What?" he asked innocently, looking at her in a state of confusion.

As her blush deepened, Mai suddenly became very aware of how Kei looked…how he sat…how he held himself…everything about him. He was sitting casually, draping his arm over one raised leg, a gentle breeze licking at his thick brown hair. Mai found herself drowning in his brilliant blue eyes, and her eyes looked over his face over and over again. She found herself marvelling at the fullness of his lips, how pale and soft his skin looked… how the falling shadows accentuated his high cheekbones…

Damn…Kei was actually pretty good looking.

"Mai?"

Mai made an audible squeak as she realised what she was thinking. Turning away quickly, blushing fiercely, she quickly tried to remedy the situation. "We…well Kei, if you don't get your butt moving now forget those fanboys, _I'll _be the one chasing you next! So…so let's get going! Before I _chase _you down there…"

"Eh," Kei shrugged as he got up and walked up next to her. "I wouldn't mind too much if _you _were the one doing the chasing."

"_Aaaaaagh!" _furious thoughts ran through Mai's brain at Kei's last remark. "_What is this? Does he _know_? Does he? Does he know and he's deliberately making fun of me by saying all these things? Oh, but what if he's not! I can't just ask him about it! I don't know what to do! I mean…aaaaarrgh!_"

To compensate for all the strange, disturbing, confusing swirling feelings invading her body, Mai did the only thing she could think of. She turned around and booted Kei right in the backside, sending him sprawling on his face in the ground. She let out a peal of giddy laughter, leapt over him and broke into a run back down the route.

"Come on lazybones, lets go!" she called back happily. "Get your face outta the dirt and move your arse!

Kei stood up, dazed, wondering what the hell had just happened. Mai had kicked him, he was sure of that, but _why_! And why was she running down the route like a woman possessed? Had she lost her mind? No…that wasn't like Mai. So what was she doing? Was it a race? That's what it was, he realised with a grin! A race!

"You won't beat me, Mai!" Kei grinned, taking off at a run after her.

Mai looked back, mid run, to see Kei slowly catching up to her and a grin spread across her face. She pushed herself forward to keep ahead of him. This…this situation she was in now…with her ahead of him…was just the way she liked it.

"_I'm not going to be the one doing the chasing, Kei! At least…at least not _all _of it anyway…_"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Yet more Mai and Kei fluff and cuteness and stuff like that. **

**We finally reached 20 Reviews! Added to the 80 I have for Spirited, I now have a whole 1-0-0 reviews! Aaaaah! I'm so happy! :D **

**I don't update this one as much as I'd like, which is a shame...I really like the story, but with most of my regulars favouring Spirited, this one does get neglected...**

**To all my readers and reviewers, I thank you wholeheartedly! **

**RunningWithWolves11: I'm glad you're okay with the idea of filler. I'm trying to keep a balance with plot and character development and such, so I hope I do okay. Mai is trying to train as hard as she can to beat her brother. Even I don't know who would come off worse in a tag battle between Mai/Kei and Alec/Irina so it's as much a mystery to me!**

**DoahShadow: Yay! A new reviewer! New reviews always make me happy, especially yours! The last chapter was pretty funny, eh? I love writing Mai, she's so much fun to write! So you're a Mai fan then? Most people I know love Kei! :D**

**Splashstorm: Aww, I'm glad you decided to review! Thank you so much! I love Milotics too, but it's my friend who has the kind of love affair with them! :D **

**Thanks to all who read and review! Please do so again if you can! **


	11. Reasons

Mai and Kei eventually reached Pastoria City late at night. Mai had neglected to tell Kei about the horribly boggy marshy path that they had to wade through for about a mile before they could actually _reach _the City itself and he was not happy about it in the least. The boggy stuff came up to his knees at least and he complained loudly and incessantly throughout the whole procedure, not even noticing Mai in all her difficulty…The marshy mud came up to her _waist_ and she practically had to swim through it. Kei was totally oblivious, squelching his way through it, moaning loudly, not even seeing Mai struggling in the background. Eventually she got so wound up that she released her giant Gyarados, hung on tight to him and hitched a ride, surfing style across the worst of the marsh. The waves the Gyarados's huge body created swept across the marsh and took Kei totally by surprise, knocking him flat on his face in the thick marsh. As Gyarados surfed past Kei, he sent another wave of marshy mud over him, soaking him right through to his underwear with soggy freezing mud. Completely unsympathetic, Mai laughed all the way to the Pokemon Centre.

Mai's first priority when she got a room for the two of them was to shower all the mud and grime off her body and hair. Even though Kei was a lot filthier than she was, by the time Mai padded back to their shared room, in pyjamas, bare feet, and hair wet around her shoulders, Kei was already there, freshly showered, waiting for her. His hair was wet, tousled and sticking up all over the place, making him look more childish than ever. Feeling that lately familiar flutter in her heart spring up again at the sight of him, a warm smile spread across her face and she collapsed onto her bed.

"You look awful cheery…" Kei commented warily as she made herself comfortable. "Am I gonna get hit or something?"

Mai frowned. "What you mean?"

"Well you never look that happy unless you're about to clobber me…" Kei observed worriedly.

"Not _all _the time!" Mai protested. "I _can _be happy without having to make you suffer for it, you know."

"Since when?" Kei asked at once and earned himself a prompt pillow in the face for his troubles.

"Be quiet," Mai grinned, pulling the covers over herself and snuggling down into her warm, comfortable bed, stretching lazily.

Kei, wondering why Mai was planning on going to bed so early, took a glance at the clock and understood. "Wow…it's getting quite late, huh?"

"Told you it would take ages to get here."

Kei's stomach growled loudly and his face fell. "I'm hungry…" he announced mournfully. "We missed dinner, didn't we?"

"You're not serious…" Mai sighed.

"I am too!" he countered childishly. "We didn't eat since lunch! And now it's….after eleven at night…" he sighed miserably, noting the time.

"Kei, if you don't eat every five minutes you think you're starving."

"Well, what about you? You eat tons!"

Mai snorted. "Yeah, so what if I do? I've got a better system than you do."

Kei wrinkled his nose. "A better system? What do you mean?"

"I eat big filling meals two or three times a day! _You _on the other hand are a "grazer". You eat little and often, meaning you have to keep constantly eating for you to feel full," Mai explained smugly.

Kei looked crestfallen. "But I'm hungry…" he whined.

Mai let out a sigh and rolled over on her side. Despite herself, she stifled a yawn. She had suddenly become overwhelmed with tiredness and her next words came out in a mumble. "There should be some biscuits or something in my bag from earlier. If you can find them, you can have them."

"Yay! Thanks Mai!" Kei cheered happily and Mai heard the springs twang and groan theatrically as he launched himself off his bed.

Mai could feel her eyes slowly closing, the darkness slowly spreading in the corners of her vision and her mind begin to dull as Kei started tearing apart the room looking for her bag and the elusive biscuits supposedly stashed away there. She yawned again and stretched lazily, feeling so warm, so happy, so comfortable and so secure that she felt she could drop off to sleep any moment.

"Yes!" Kei grinned as he unearthed Mai's bag hidden under a pile of her mud spattered clothes. He opened it and tore through a strange array of gear; finding spare Pokeballs, Potions, Revives, her TM case emptied of any useful TMs, a few evolutionary stones that Kei made a mental note to steal if he ever needed them, a couple of Rare Candies she had conveniently hidden from him and _finally _he came across a clear plastic bag containing half a packet of chocolate biscuits and a rather squashed banana. Tossing the banana to the side, Kei devoured the packet of biscuits, spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Thanks Mai!" he grinned happily, his cheeks bulging with so many biscuits he looked like a comical cartoon chipmunk. He swallowed the massive mouthful, wondering why Mai hadn't said anything. He stood up. "Mai?"

Out of curiosity, he moved closer to her bed and he smiled when he laid eyes on her. She had fallen asleep. She was lying curled up on one side, her head resting on one arm, her eyes shut, and a look of contentment on her face. She looked so small, so peaceful lying there, like she didn't have a care in the world. For Kei, seeing her so at peace was bittersweet. He wished he knew what was going on her head, what she was thinking, how she was coping…

"Oh, Mai…" he murmured to her sleeping figure. He could not help but reach his hand out and touch her pale face for just a moment, his fingers resting lithely on her soft skin. The touch of her still echoed in his hand as he drew it away.

"_What do I call this feeling_?"

* * *

The sound of rippling waters was all Alec and Irina could hear as they touched down in Lake Valour very late at night. The place was totally dark, the only light coming from the pale pearly reflection of the moon on the rippling black waters. It was a beautiful sight, Irina thought, but it was wasted on them. Irina would have liked to have taken in the surroundings, but Alec was in a less than charming mood. The long flight had made him irritable and he snapped at Irina constantly as he gave her instructions to look around the area to make sure there was no-one around.

"I mean, it shouldn't be too hard, eh, Irina? Even for you! This is just a scouting mission after all!"

Irina visibly shook with rage at her partner's insolence, but bit her tongue firmly, knowing all two well of the consequences that came with annoying Alec further. Instead she plotted various hilarious revenges in her head against him; especially savouring the particular one she concocted involving her Froslass sneaking up on her sleeping partner and freezing off his…well, you get the idea. At least her fulfilling little imaginings made the whole mission seem that little more bearable. It was going to be a_ long _job…taking at least two or three days, Alec had supposed.

"Irina!" Alec bellowed, summoning his partner to his side after she finished scouting out the area. "Come here!"

"Yes, Alec…" she said patiently, obediently trotting over to his side. "What is it?"

"The equipment we brought with us? Get it and begin setting it up."

Irina sighed, looking at the equipment they had picked up in another base earlier and had strapped onto Alec's Salamence. It was all heavy stuff, cameras and microphones, some of it probably weighing as much as she did. She didn't argue though and obediently began pulling it from the Salamence's body. The Salamence roared loudly every time Irina got too close to it, making her flinch. She didn't much care for Alec's Salamence. In fact, there was a _lot _about Alec, his Pokemon and his organization that she didn't much care for lately. She found herself having to constantly remind herself of _why _she had become involved with Alec and his organization in the first place in order for her to keep a reign on her temper...She was finding it increasingly difficult to stay patient around Alec and his people nowadays…

She wished Alec would tell her more about the motives of the organization he headed. She wished she knew why she was even here in Lake Valour in the first place. Why Alec claimed to need "strong trainers". Even worse, she had a strong suspicion that not many of the lower ranks knew much about what was going on either, but she had lost count of how many times she had seen some of the other men talking in hushed tones with Alec over whatever "mission" they had been sent on. It seemed to her that Alec was not shy in discussing the finer details of his plans, whatever they were, with the other men, but Irina was kept in the dark almost all the time. It infuriated her. Alec was the head of the whole organization and she was his _partner _after all, but she knew nothing; _nothing _about the organization, about their motives, about their ideals…nothing apart from what little she could discover for herself. She hated the fact Alec was the first one to throw around the declaration that she and him were partners, but he never seemed to _act _like it.

"Irina! Hurry up!" Alec snapped.

It took a great deal of self control for Irina to stop herself from thumping Alec on the back of his head with the tripod stand as she walked past him. Finally after almost quarter of an hour of carrying, lugging, shifting and trying to set up complicated equipment in the pitch black, Irina surveyed her work, panting and sweaty with exhaustion. Throughout the whole of Lake Valour she had set up three night vision cameras, motion sensors, microphones, the works. It was equipment that wouldn't look out of place in the hands of film makers or ghost hunters or people like that. Looking at the expensive equipment nervously, Irina wondered exactly what it was they were to be used for and wasn't afraid to ask Alec herself.

He flashed her a look that would turn her to stone. "Is it not obvious, Irina?" he asked coolly.

"We can't all be as clever as you, Alec…" Irina commented snidely, her patience suddenly snapping. "If you would at least tell me _why _we were out here in the first place, _why _you even need strong trainers for _whatever _it is you're doing, I wouldn't need to ask! Especially when I know for a _fact _you tell all the underlings but you don't even tell your own _partner_!"

"Now Irina…"

"You know, sometimes I even wonder why I joined this whole organization in the first place! I even wonder why I _stay _here!"

To anyone else, it would have looked like Alec was actually hurt by Irina's words, but Irina had a nasty suspicion he was just play-acting. His bottom lip curled in a childish pout and he pretended to cry, complete with silly sound effects. Then a thin smile spread across his face and he moved close to Irina. Without warning, he took her by the waist and pulled her slim body into his. She felt the gentle bump of his hips against hers and then his strong hands gently caressing her face.

"Alec…" Irina said warningly. This was another aspect of Alec's personality that infuriated her immensely. He never seemed to be able to keep his hands off her! Perhaps it was her fault; she often played up to him when he was angry, using her womanly charms to calm him down, but he seemed to think that gave him the right to forever be pulling at her and harassing her and touching her up…and it enraged her! Well, that is…_normally _it enraged her…

There was something different about this time. There was something gentler about the way he held her, the way he looked at her. Normally whenever he grabbed her, she was repulsed, but put up with it to pacify him… but not this time. This time she didn't _want_ to pull away. There was something so…alluring about him. Seeing him against a backdrop of blinking silver stars and contrasting inky black sky, hearing the gentle ripples of the water behind them, the way the shadows falling across his face accentuated his features…it felt surreal to her, like they were in a scene of a romance movie.

"Now Irina…" his voice was smooth and sultry, like velvet as his breath tickled her ear. "I don't like it when you say such mean things…"

Then suddenly he tilted his head down, his pale lips brushing her ruby reds just momentarily. Then he kissed her. It was smooth, sensual and beautiful, but fleeting and over far too quickly. He pulled back from her almost as soon as he had made contact and a steady grin appeared on his face. He then turned away from her.

"Come on, Irina…" his voice was soft and silky. "We have a lot of work to do and it's going to be a _long _night…"

Irina found she couldn't move her body to go after him. That kiss had been paralysing. Her lips burned still with the echo of his touch and she let out a humourless chuckle.

This was the reason she stayed with Alec and his organization.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Short chapter...not much happens...kinda setting the scene, I guess. Character development for Irina and Alec, too. Next chapter will be very interesting though! Mai challenges Kei to a Pokemon battle!**

**Thanks to so many of my awesome readers and reviewers! You make writing this whole thing worthwhile! Sorry if I caught any of you out with changing the name! I just thought it fitted the story a bit better than the old one!**

**RunningWithWolves11: I love getting your reviews, they make me so happy! Yeah, the MaixKei moments are really sweet and cute and fun to write! Even I don't know which one of them is going to make the move first! Mai's too stubborn and Kei's too dense, just like you said! And I'm trying to update as often as I can for all of you that like this story!**

**DoahShadow: I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot more cute moments in this story's future...Yeah, I like Irina too! She's a bit of an engima, just like Alec. She's a strange one, definitely. Sometimes she can't stand Alec, but now, I think she's beginning to get caught up with him and she's developing stronger feelings for him. Don't know where I'm going with THEIR relationship...Haha!**

**AmpharosLover666: Yes, I changed the name. Think it suits the fic better. Yeah, Kei and Mai are so much fun to write for, seperately and together! :D Thank you for being such an awesome dedicated reviewer to BOTH stories! :)**

**Please read and review if you can! Promise the next chapter will be a little more...exciting!**


	12. On Opposite Sides Part I

Sitting in one of the few local cafes in Pastoria City on a bright crisp morning, Mai came out with something Kei would never have expected her to ask in a million years.

"Kei? Will you battle me?"

Kei, in his shock, seemed to somehow inhale, choke and spit out the milkshake he was drinking all at the same time in the most perfect spit-take Mai had ever seen. With milkshake dripping down from his nose and chin and his eyes wide with shock, Mai couldn't help herself from laughing. Especially when he tried to speak and all he could manage was a strange high pitched squeak.

"Are you serious?"

Mai laughed. "Kei, it is impossible for me to be serious when you've got milkshake dripping down your chin. Here,"

She picked up the napkin placed between them and dabbed at his face, her cool fingers on his warm cheeks. She giggled as she mopped up the droplets, but then she suddenly became very aware of what she was doing. The softness of his cheek under her fingers was almost an addictive sensation; she never wanted to take her hands away. She knew she had to though, and blushing slightly, let her hands fall to the side, feeling foolish. Kei, momentarily distracted from Mai's unexpected question found some secret part of him wishing she hadn't taken her hands away…

"So…so you never answered me!" Mai challenged him, trying to lock away all of _those _thoughts in the farthest depths of her mind. "Will you battle me or not?"

Kei snapped back into his senses too. "B…battle? Why? I mean, I thought you wanted to go to the Great Marsh! You dragged us all the way down here just so we could see that! Why all of a sudden do you want to battle?"

Mai shrugged. "I just want a decent battle…"

The thoughts of having to endure a battle with Mai for probably hours on end when he could sit and eat chocolate or do other mindless things filled him with dread. Battling meant having to think! Having to think meant using your brain! Using your brain meant he couldn't go off on some happy daydream and eat a lot of junk food and wander around to his leisure…

"But why do you have to battle _me_…?" Kei whined sadly.

"Because you and I both know that aside from Alec, you're the only Pokemon trainer around that _can _beat me in a battle."

The bluntness and seriousness of Mai's statement made Kei stop in his tracks. Even she looked a little surprised she had come out with it so easily…

She cleared her throat loudly and spoke in a more upbeat tone.

"B…besides…I've been practicing some new moves and I think I need to test them out in an actual battle. And I wanna fight someone I _know_ is gonna give me a challenge," she remedied.

Kei looked at her. "But…we haven't battled each other in years…"

"We're not kids anymore, Kei." Mai understood immediately what he was getting at. "That stupid record we had doesn't mean anything anymore."

"I know but…when we were younger and we did eventually stop battling each other, you never seemed to forgive me that the score was ninety nine to you and a hundred to me…"

"Kei, I told you. That doesn't _mean _anything! I managed to train up my Pokemon and they're stronger now, so I want a sparring partner to test them against. It's got nothing to do with settling the score in some stupid competition we had when we were what…fourteen or fifteen? Times have changed, Kei. I'm not out for revenge or anything like that…I'm not out to prove once and for all who's the best."

Kei looked at Mai and found himself giving in. He could practically see his oh-so-desired promise of a lazy evening doing nothing but watching television, lounging about and stuffing his face with chocolate skip away from him off into the distance.

"_I guess it wouldn't do any harm…_" Kei thought to himself. "_I guess I really _am _the only trainer she really can practice against…the only one who can give her some competition. And I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to get some training too…I mean, considering how easily Mai was beaten by Alec…and how I swore to protect her and all that stuff…_" he felt a blush redden his cheeks at that thought. "_I haven't really done much training to _prevent _stuff like that from happening again. I really should try and train my Pokemon some more… Especially as how there really isn't that much difference between our levels anyway…_"

"Kei?" Mai ventured. "Please…? Please will you battle me?"

Kei looked into those captivating coffee coloured eyes that even with all their beauty could not fail to hide the complexity of her sadness. He sighed and gave in. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll battle you."

Mai let out a shriek of joy and threw herself at him to hug him. Suddenly faced with her body so close to his made a strange feeling wash over him, exactly like how he had felt the previous night as he had watched her sleep. It was the same kind of urge that had made him reach out and stroke her face whilst she slept, none the wiser to his presence. These feelings were strange, unfamiliar and somewhat frightening to Kei…but they were by no means unpleasant…They were confusing though, that much was certain. How suddenly these alien feelings had sprung up…why he all of a sudden enjoyed the few moments of physical contact they had between them a lot more…why he was suddenly obsessed with protecting her and keeping her safe…

"_It's because she's like your sister," _Kei told himself firmly as Mai let him go. "_You feel protective of her because she's like your sister! Of course you're gonna be feeling more protective of her after all that stuff with Alec! So just back up a bit and calm down. It's all because you just want to protect her. It's perfectly normal…_"

Clearing his throat loudly, he decided to get back to the situation at hand. "So, this battle? How do you want to organise it?"

"Simple!" Mai grinned, laughing and she grabbed him by the hand. "Come on, let's go back to the Pokemon Centre! I'll tell you there, come on!"

"Whaa…?" Kei made an involuntary squeak. "But I haven't finished my—" he cast a wistful backward glance to the half eaten slice of fudge cake as he was dragged out of his seat and outside into the bright sunlight. He was pulled all the way back into the Pokemon Centre and back to the room before Mai eventually released him.

"Here, take these!" Mai grinned, handing him a sheet of paper, some sticky tape and a thick black pen that had been sitting on their desk.

Kei blinked in confusion at these strange tools. "And what do I do with these?"

"Tear the sheet of paper into six and number each slip from one to six," Mai told her friend, already working on carefully tearing up her own sheet.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Mai replied curtly, carefully inking on the number one onto the first scrap of paper.

Kei looked at the paper and pen once more, shrugged and began tearing up the sheet haphazardly. He scrawled his own squiggly numbers on the slips of paper, and then looked at Mai expectantly who had laid out her own immaculate labels across the desk.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Mai, _what_ is this about?"

Instead of offering any explanations, all Mai did was give more orders. "Mix up all your Pokeballs so you don't know which one is which."

Kei did as he was told and mixed up his Pokeballs completely. He didn't have a clue which one was which after he finished; they all looked the same to him anyway, just round red balls. Mai was doing the same, mixing up her Pokeballs into a big cluster. She then started sticking the numbered slips of paper onto them, until each one of her Pokeballs had a number hanging from it. On her instruction, Kei stuck each slip onto a different Pokeball, still not really understanding what was going on. No sooner had he done that, Mai had scooped up all her Pokeballs and ran out the door, yelling at him to follow. Kei groaned inwardly to himself, wondering why he ever agreed to this madness in the first place and trudged out of the door after her, his arms full of his Pokeballs.

Mai led them to a secluded spot near the edge of Pastoria City and casually left her Pokeballs in a pile at her feet. Kei lagged behind, eager to delay the whole thing for as long as possible.

"I still don't get why we have to mix up and number the Pokeballs…" Kei said, sighing sadly. "What _is _the point of it?"

"It's to make it fair," Mai explained.

"How is numbering the Pokeballs fair?"

"We don't know which Pokemon are in each Pokeball, right?"

"Right…"

"So, for the first battle we both use the Pokeball numbered as one! That means we battle not knowing what Pokemon we're going to use _and _without knowing what opponent the other is using, so that means we can't use things like type advantages. So it makes it much fairer."

"Oh, I see…" Kei finally understood. He had to give her credit; it was a pretty good idea. "Okay, then…" He plucked out the Pokeball adorned with the number "one" and investigated it. He really couldn't tell what Pokemon was in it. This _was _going to be an interesting battle. He held out the Pokeball. "Should we get started then?"

He fully expected Mai to leap right into battle. He waited for her to eagerly throw her Pokeball into the ring and get the match started. But she didn't. Instead she clutched onto the Pokeball with the "one" plastered on to it tightly, seemingly with no intention of letting it go, and her face had suddenly been invaded by a look of pure regret. Her eyes narrowed and darkened with sadness. A thin breeze picked up, biting at Kei's exposed skin. He did not like the look on Mai's face at all. What was she thinking about…? She looked like a scared little girl again. Kei hated it.

"M…Mai?"

"Kei…" Mai said slowly, her eyes drifting away from him, as she turned her head. "Is…is the only reason you're doing this…because you know you can win?"

"What?" Kei's voice came out in a whisper.

Mai looked at Kei, her face twisted. She wouldn't say anything.

"Mai…" Kei said softly. "Are you…?"

"Don't you remember?" Mai cut in suddenly.

He frowned in confusion. "Remember what?"

A little chuckle escaped from her. "When we were younger, silly. Don't you remember when we eventually made the pact to stop battling each other; you swore after that you would never battle someone you knew you couldn't win against, because you thought I might beat you next time?"

Kei wished Mai hadn't brought that up. "Mai…that wasn't why I swore to never battle anyone I couldn't win against…it had nothing to do with that silly record we had! You said it yourself, that record doesn't mean _anything_!"

Mai couldn't look at him. "So why…why did you agree to this then? Considering all those years you point blank refused to battle me?"

Kei didn't even know how to answer her. He stuttered, his voice wavering. "Um…because…because you asked me to…I guess…"

"That's not a good enough reason, Kei…" Mai said at once. Her voice held a stony edge to it that made Kei wish he could just turn away and ignore her.

"It's the only reason I've got…"

"No. You must have another." Mai reiterated firmly.

This time it was Kei's turn to not be able to face his friend.

"Kei…"

"I…I just want to do as much as I can to make sure you don't get hurt again, Mai." he tried to keep his voice upbeat and cheery, but he found he couldn't. "You know…whatever that means…whether it's just be helping you with your training to get stronger or actually doing some training myself!" he tried to laugh, but he had to force it out and he knew it sounded cheap and humourless and that Mai probably wouldn't buy it. He made himself look in her eyes and tried to grin. "That's it really! I just wanna help you get strong in case that weirdo of a brother of yours turns up again!"

Neither Mai nor Kei could accurately read the expression on the other's face. For a while neither of them could quite bring themselves to say anything. Another sharp, biting breeze picked up, sending a chill through Mai's body that refocused her attentions. She stepped back a little, raising the Pokeball she was holding.

"Thanks Kei…" she murmured softly.

Mai at first wasn't sure if he had heard her, but then she found herself blushing in embarrassment as he lifted his head in recognition and a wide grin appeared on his face. He too took a stance, that smile showing no signs of leaving.

Both felt all of a sudden very nervous as they stared into each other's eyes. It had been almost three years since the two had stood on opposite ends of a battlefield. Each had seen the other grow so strong and had marvelled at their strengths from a distance. Strengths they had never expected to come up against in a battle again.

Each knew the other's battling style like the back of their hand. Kei was a strategist, who studied others' styles and methods intently and used that to form almost perfect counter-strategies. Mai felt she was at an extreme disadvantage, Kei had been there to see her every battle, helped her come up with every tactic she had ever used…there was no doubt he was almost as well acquainted with her style as she herself was. He would know the patterns of the attacks she favoured, what preceded and what followed, almost like he knew _exactly _what she was thinking almost before she herself knew it. With such an extensive knowledge, it would be child's play for Kei to pick out the flaws and opportunities within those approaches to ensure a win…

Kei was far from being optimistic though. Mai never seemed to carry a care about anything to do with strategy or even type matchups. All opponents were treated the same to her, they were dealt with quickly, efficiently and most importantly, with great power. Mai hit fast and she hit _hard_, and there was always a chance of unpredictability within her methods, which Kei found difficult to react to unless he had specifically planned for it. Even worse, Mai's Pokemon were powerhouses, unmatched in areas of sheer power, defence and speed… areas that Kei himself admitted he was somewhat lacking in.

"Let's get this party started, then!" Mai cut in, knowing that standing around worrying was not going to secure her that desired win. "Go!"

She threw her numbered Pokeball and her mystery first battler appeared in the arena, bathed against a backdrop of bright red light. Her Rhydon roared in appreciation at being let out of its Pokeball and stomped its feet into the ground, sending tremors reverberating beneath them.

"_Rhydon, hmm…_?" Kei thought to himself. "_That thing embodies two of Mai's most favourite things about Pokemon. Strength and defence…I can't afford to take too many hits off that brute _and _anything less than a really powerful attack won't even _graze _that thing's thick armour. What's worse…three of my Pokemon are at a total disadvantage! This could be trouble…_"

Nonetheless, he tossed his own Pokeball into the arena, praying to God that it wouldn't be Ninetails or Jolteon or Dragonite that appeared from it; that it would be Milotic instead.

"Jynx! Jynx!"

"_Oh…I can go with that,_" Kei thought to himself happily as the dual Ice and Psychic Pokemon appeared from its Pokeball.

After Jynx planted a huge big kiss on his cheek to show her appreciation, she turned and faced Mai's Rhydon, who bellowed loudly as if to scare her. Jynx responded with waggling her hips in a seductive manner as if to enthral the giant Pokemon, but whether or not Rhydon was too stupid to notice her advances or just didn't care, all it did was anger him! He thrashed his huge tail into the earth, roaring loudly, and ready to get started.

For a moment neither of the trainers did anything. Then everything seemed to happen at once.

"Jynx! Use Powder Snow!"

"Rhydon! Hit him with Ancientpower!"

Ice and rock collided in an almighty blast as the curtain was raised on one of the most monumental battles Mai and Kei had ever partaken in.

Who was going to win? Neither of them knew.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**So...does anyone have any guesses as to what the outcome of this battle is going to be...? Even I don't know yet!**

**I really am trying to update as often as possible...Really! Don't kill me! *runs away screaming***

**Thanks to all who keep reading and reviewing so dedicatedly. I would like to see some more reviews for this one...but, hey...can't have everything, eh?**

**Splashstorm: Yeah, Mai and Kei are starting to "kick it up" a notch, aren't they? They're getting a little closer with every chapter! Thank you very much!**

**RunningWithWolves11: Yes, Kei IS starting to realise. Took him long enough; he's a little dense. Yes, Alec and Irina...I won't be writing about them for a while...even though I can't wait to advance their own relationship...they're very interesting characters to write for. **

**DoahShadow: Yes, Alec did indeed kiss Irina...but why? Was he just trying to shut her up and get her to behave, or is he really feeling something for her? Who knows? Aww, thank you very much! I do try to put as much detail as I can. That kind of scene with Alec and Irina has to have some level of detailing otherwise it's not really believeable...And yes, Kei is beginning to realise his feelings for Mai, but he's DENYING them! :( Thank you for your awesome review! :D**

**Please read and review if you can! Thank you all :D**


	13. On Opposite Sides Part II

The appreciative ooohs and aaahs from the crowds that had gathered were totally lost on Mai and Kei as the two best friends, locked in battle, were currently facing the most difficult challenge either had endured a long time…

How _do _you battle your best friend?

Kei's brain was working overtime as he ran through as many possible scenarios in his head about how best to respond to Mai's attacks. He found it easy to find the openings in her Rhydon's attacks, he was slow and his movements were very deliberate. This made it easy for Kei's Jynx to get in with quick, well timed moves.

Mai cursed to herself as Kei's Jynx effortlessly dodged around Rhydon as he lunged for her with a Horn Drill. While Rhydon struggled to regain his balance after the attack, Kei took his opportunity to order Jynx to use a Powder Snow attack. Jynx pulled off the attack perfectly, and Rhydon roared and stumbled backwards, trying to shake the cold blizzard off his body. As Rhydon steadied himself and faced off to Jynx, awaiting instruction from Mai, she found herself at a total loss at what to do…

"_Come on, Mai, focus!"_ she told herself firmly. "_You can take his Jynx! Just focus! Kei's too good at reading you; you can't let on what you're going to do! Come on! Pull yourself together!"_

Then it hit her.

"Rhydon, use Earthquake now!"

"Crap!" Kei cursed as the Rhydon roared and in correspondence to its roar, the whole ground began shaking so viciously that Jynx could barely stand up. Rhyhorn on the other hand was barely affected by the tremors. "_Okay, so she's using Earthquake…but she's not trying to _hurt_Jynx with it, just stop her from moving! So, the opponent can't move, but Rhydon can…Hmm…I've seen this technique before…I've gotta find some way to negate it otherwise Jynx could be in serious trouble!"_

"Rhydon! Use Rock Blast!"

Jynx took the full brunt of each huge chunk of rock Rhydon blasted at her. She could barely move, let alone dodge, so great was the shaking underneath her feet. Kei grimaced with every hit she took, but she wasn't a quitter and even after the merciless barrage of rocks, she was still standing.

"Now come on Rhydon! Take her down with Stone Edge!"

The shaking started to calm as Rhydon broke into a thunderous rampage straight for Jynx. The answer came to Kei in a flash of sudden wondrous inspiration!

If Mai could manipulate the terrain to her advantage than so would he!

"Jynx! Jump back and use Blizzard on the ground, now!"

Quick as anything, Jynx seemed to shake off the damage she had sustained and she leapt backwards. She blew a blast of chilly wind from her mouth, aiming downwards. The churned up earth was suddenly encased in a thick layer of slippery ice! As the immediate area in front of Jynx was covered in freezing sheets of ice, Mai let out a scream as she realised Rhydon couldn't stop! Mid-charge, his heavy feet made contact with the frozen sheets and he slipped! His legs flew out from under him and he slid halfway down the icy path, shooting straight past Jynx!

He, rather comically, couldn't get up again and try as he might, couldn't hall the massive bulk of his weighty body up without slipping on the ice again. If this were any other situation, Kei would have found it hard not to laugh…

"Rhydon! Get up, please!" Mai begged, but her Rhydon just couldn't…

The guilt Kei felt for this next instruction was so consuming he wished he didn't have to do it. But this was a _battle _after all, he couldn't let any…feelings…he may harbour towards Mai distract him from treating it as such. After all, he told himself, this was what she wanted…she wanted a real, no holds barred Pokemon battle…and if that's what she wanted, he would give it to her…

"All right, Jynx! Take it down with Ice Punch!"

Jynx obeyed of course, without question. She skated elegantly across the ice towards the struggling Rhydon, balling her hand into a fist. Her clenched fist glowed and was suddenly surrounded by what looked like a miniature blizzard. Mai screamed as the Jynx's icy fist collided with her Rhydon's thick hide, sending him skidding backwards across the ice and straight into the bark of a tree. The force behind Rhydon's impact snapped trees as if they were mere twigs and he was crushed by the falling branches.

"Rhydon!" Mai screeched.

All thoughts of simply using her Pokeball to recall Rhydon were tossed to one side and Mai took off across the perilous ice path across to her Pokemon. She barely even heard Kei's cries of concern as she haphazardly dashed over the dangerous icy stretch.

"Rhydon, are you okay?" Mai begged her Pokemon.

Rhydon managed a weak roar at his trainer's concern, but nothing more.

"Oh…Rhydon…" Mai murmured sadly, moving some of the smaller branches from her Pokemon's body. "I'm really sorry…"

Seeing this display made Kei again regret his decision to battle Mai. He hated seeing Mai upset from a loss at the best of times, but the knowledge that it was _he _who had caused that loss made that strange feeling burn relentlessly in his chest again. He wanted nothing more than to go up to her and comfort her, but suddenly his Jynx threw herself at him, knocking him over, smothering him in kisses and eager for praise.

"Hey, Jynx, hey! Get off, this is not the right ti—woah! Get your hands _away _from there!" Kei blushed ferociously as his Jynx got a _bit _too close for comfort but eventually managed to shove her off, in the nicest way possible. He was keen to avoid any potentially embarrassing situations that always came with his overly amorous Jynx.

He stood up and watched Mai in the distance recall Rhydon and replace her Pokeball on her belt. She turned and began walking back to her spot, but she walked in such a way that Kei couldn't see her face until she turned to face him again.

When she eventually did, he gulped.

She looked _mad_.

"I'm not losing to you, Kei!" Mai bellowed from across the icy expanse.

A grin spread across Kei's face. That was the Mai he knew! "All right then! Bring it on!"

Mai pulled out the Pokeball numbered two, made a big deal of showing it off to Kei, and threw it straight into the air. From it burst out Mai's Charizard who bellowed loudly at being let out into the fresh air.

Kei's jaws dropped at the sight of Mai's most formidable Pokemon appear from its Pokeball. "_Oh hell…I'm in trouble now. That couldn't have worked out better for her…and worse for me…"_

"Come on then, Charizard! Melt that ice with Flamethrower!"

"Oh _hell_!" Kei screeched. "Jynx, get out of the way!"

Jynx was only just able to dive out of the way before Charizard's incredible Flamethrower was raining down on the ground, swamping the offending ice and turning it into deep puddles of water. Kei swore to himself. With Charizard a Fire type as well as being in the air, Kei was at a major disadvantage.

"_Okay, just keep calm. You've battled against Mai's Charizard before. All you have to do is just predict her moveme—Oh HELL!"_

Kei stopping to think had cost him dearly as before he knew it, Mai's Charizard was speeding towards Jynx so fast he just looked like a blur of orange! Kei couldn't react quick enough to make a difference and Charizard slammed itself straight into Jynx's body, sending her flying across the wet ground. She landed in a heap near to Kei.

"Jynx!" Kei gasped. "Are you—?"

"Jynx!" Jynx said defiantly, pushing herself to her feet again.

Kei grinned. A fantastic idea had just formed in his head. "All right, Jynx!" he raised his voice loudly so that Mai and pretty much everyone around them could hear him. "Let's use Avalanche!" Then he quietened down considerably, giving Jynx _another _instruction, this one whispered, that Mai couldn't hear…

"_Avalanche?" _Mai thought to herself, terrified. "_That attack…it works by the Pokemon storing energy and then it unleashes a really powerful move! Kei's used that strategy on me before…last time I thought that if I attacked Jynx when she was storing energy, she would still be able to attack me! But now…I know that Jynx can't move when they use that attack! So, if I can hit her _now, _I can stop her from using the attack_!"

"Charizard! Get in close and use Iron Tail!" Mai ordered.

Charizard roared loudly and swooped down into a rapid descent towards the immobile Jynx who's body was slowly beginning to glow with light blue energy. If Mai hadn't been so caught up in watching Charizard close in on Jynx, she would have seen a triumphant grin spread over her best friend's face as Mai did _exactly _what he had predicted.

As soon as Charizard got in close enough, Kei let out a holler. "Jynx! Use Blizzard!"

"_WHAT?" _Mai screamed as Jynx suddenly opened its mouth and let loose a vicious icy chilly wind filled with what looked like small snowballs right at Charizard!

Kei's face twisted into a grin! What a stroke of genius he had had to make it look like Jynx was storing energy to use for the Avalanche attack, when in reality she was just using Blizzard! He knew Mai would think Jynx couldn't move, therefore she was an easy target! It was the perfect lure to get Charizard close enough to devastate him with such a powerful close range attack! And Mai would never know what hit her!

Or so he thought…

"Charizard! Use Fire Blast!"

He gaped in awe at Mai's lightning fast reactions. There was no way he could have accounted for this... Still in mid flight, Charizard let loose a blast of intense, all consuming fire that sped straight through Jynx's Blizzard, reducing it to mere droplets of water. At such a close range, the attack was devastating on the Ice type...

"Jynnnnnnx!" Jynx screamed as the fire engulfed her, burning her body.

When the attack subsided, Kei solemnly recalled his Jynx whose body was burned and blackened from the incredibly display of fire. "_How…how could she have reacted so quickly…? That strategy was foolproof...I certainly didn't account for her being able to react so quickly…especially when she was so surprised…Incredible…_"

Charizard touched down lightly next to Mai and she patted him on the head happily, before turning across to Kei. "I'll admit Kei, you had me there. I didn't expect that at all. Pretty good idea trying to lull me into a false sense of security. You weren't _really _using Avalanche, you just wanted me to _think _you were."

"Got it in one," Kei said weakly. "I'll admit, I didn't expect you to react so fast, especially when you had no idea…that was pretty incredible…"

"What do you talk? I _always _have quick reactions," Mai grinned, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"_Damn right she does…" _Kei thought to himself sadly as he pulled out his next Pokeball. "_Mai can react so quickly to situations happening right in front of her…it's incredible. I can't do that. If I can't think of it ahead of time, I can't react to it like she can. Damn her and her unpredictability…God, I really _don't_ know who's going to win this battle.._"

He tossed the next Pokeball into the arena and out came…

"Jolteeeeon!"

"_Excellent_!" Kei enthused. "_An Electric type may just be what I need to take out that Charizard! Some wicked Thunder attacks will have him right where I wanted_."

But again, he found himself proved very very wrong indeed.

"Bugger!" he cursed loudly as Jolteon fell to the ground, completely devastated by the burn he had sustained from one too many Flamethrowers…

Charizard had been too fast and had avoided every single Thundershock and Thunder attack Jolteon had called down from the sky, and when Kei finally thought he had a decent strategy, Mai's incredible reaction speed came through for her again. When Charizard dipped down to deliver an Ember attack, Kei had ordered Jolteon to use Thunder Fang on the incoming dragon Pokemon, but Mai instantly changed her tactics. Charizard was so used to switching from one attack to the other mid-flight that it was horribly easy for him, on Mai's instruction to hit the leaping Jolteon with a close range Iron Tail, followed by a Dragon Claw as soon as Jolteon hit the ground.

Kei found himself in awe at Mai as he recalled Jolteon. He had watched every battle she had undertaken in the last three years and was so sure he knew everything that could be known about her strategies, her tactics, her strengths and weaknesses…so how was it that even now she was taking him totally by surprise with the sheer power and unpredictability behind her? She was a far better trainer than he could have ever thought…

He was losing this battle, with only four Pokemon left to battle Mai's remaining five. He had to redeem himself somehow. Though, he had a creeping fear that against Mai's sheer strength and speed and unpredictability, he might very well be taken out altogether…

To his surprise, he ended up winning the next two rounds! After recalling his poor defeated Jolteon he discovered that the next Pokemon he had to battle with was none other than his beloved Dragonite! It was the battle of the flying dragon Pokemon as Dragonite and Charizard exchanged ferocious blows high in the air, until eventually a vicious Water Pulse courtesy of Dragonite sent Charizard spiralling out of the air and crashing in a heap on the ground. Mai recalled Charizard looking disappointed, knowing she had just lost what little lead she had over Kei.

Her next Pokemon was Scyther, but he too was at the mercy of Dragonite's incredible power, this time victim of Dragonite's somewhat lesser used Flying moves. Lesser used moves or no, the outcome was the same and Mai realised sadly she was down to three Pokemon…

Mai felt very uncertain all of a sudden…here she was faced with Kei's second strongest Pokemon that had taken out her Charizard, her strongest Pokemon, _and _her Scyther without batting an eye. She had used her best Pokemon in battle and he had been taken out, whereas Kei still had his trump card _and _his most trusted, strongest Pokemon remaining… This had worked out far better in Kei's favour than it had hers…

Mai never really was bothered about type advantages and disadvantages, but this was one rare instance that she actually prayed for Raichu to come bursting out the Pokeball so she could use his wicked electric attacks! Raichu, or at a complete push, Gyarados. They were the only ones who could realistically take out Dragonite…

She tossed the fourth Pokeball into the arena. All the praying she had done must have paid off because Raichu burst from the Pokeball. She breathed a sigh of relief as Raichu skidded into the arena, locking eyes with Kei's Dragonite. He began to growl, sparks of electricity crackling at his cheeks.

Mai won that bout with Raichu, but only just. The two Pokemon went toe to toe for a long time. Mai's Raichu sunk one powerful electric attack after another into Dragonite's body but it took a long time for the giant orange dragon to show any signs of injury, especially since the attacks were at such long range. Eventually it fell to Raichu, but only after Mai ordered him to leap on Dragonite's back when it swooped down to deliver a Dragon Claw. Once Raichu was clinging to the Dragonite's giant body, Mai ordered him to use Thunder. The close range attack completely fried Kei's Dragonite and he crashed to the ground. He didn't get up again as Raichu proudly hopped off him, looking quite satisfied with himself.

However, that satisfied smirk was soon wiped off Raichu's face when faced with Kei's next Pokemon. His Ninetails completely obliterated the already exhausted electric mouse with a Confuse Ray, then a succession of Flamethrowers. Mai cursed to herself as Raichu admitted defeat. She only had two Pokemon left! Absol and Gyarados _somehow _had to take down Kei's Ninetails, Gengar and Milotic. It wasn't looking good.

Mai's next Pokemon turned out to be Absol. As the ever growing crowd roared in appreciation, Absol and Ninetails went toe-to-toe with each other. For a while, it looked like the Pokemon were evenly matched and with each successive hit the other landed, both Mai and Kei's apprehension and agitation grew. Eventually Absol got in with a nasty Dark Pulse and knocked Ninetails out cold…

With both trainers standing at two Pokemon remaining, nerves were running high. Mai had a feeling it would come down to the last stand...

Her palms sweaty, she waited for Kei to release his next Pokemon. Out came Gengar.

Mai's heart leapt! She had the type advantage with a Dark type against Kei's Ghost type! However, it didn't play out that way. Kei got in quickly with Gengar's favourite move, Hypnosis that put Mai's Absol to sleep almost as soon as the battle started. Gengar then barraged Absol with every non-Ghost attack it knew until eventually Mai couldn't watch her Pokemon's suffering while he could do nothing to stop it and recalled Absol, admitting a fifth defeat.

With Mai down to only Gyarados and Kei in the better position with both Gengar _and _Milotic, his most powerful Pokemon remaining, Mai was beginning to regret the decision to challenge him. There was no way she could win against him…

But she wasn't a quitter. No way was she going to give up. Or give him the satisfaction of seeing her get upset...

"Let's go, Gyarados! Take it out with Hydro Pump!"

The sheer strength behind the Hydro Pump and the merciless barrage of subsequent attacks Gyarados showered on Gengar was enough to defeat the maniacal cackling ghost and Mai had successfully evened the score. Only now Kei was down to Milotic.

"_I always knew this was how it was gonna end up…"_ Mai thought to herself.

"_One-on-one, eh?_" were Kei's thoughts. "_I see…so this is how it's going to be…_"

Kei released Milotic without a word and the two serpentine Pokemon faced off against each other, growling and roaring. The mighty and powerful Gyarados against the elegant beauty of Milotic…

Mai did not feel confident. At all. Kei's Milotic was so well trained, so elegant, with all that power hidden behind that beauty… this was the Milotic that Kei had raised from a lowly Feebas, the Milotic that Kei solely relied on for his Elite Four challenge, the Milotic who had defeated every single opponent it had ever faced thus far… Every time Mai had come up against Kei's Milotic in the rare six-on-six battles they had dared to participate in when they were younger, she had lost. At her best, she had tied with him a few times, but she could count on one hand the amount of times that had happened…

She had faced tough opponents before in Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, but Kei's Milotic was easily the strongest. Out of all of them. There was no doubt in her mind that it was probably stronger than any Pokemon her brother owned…

She had to remind herself again why she was doing this; submitting herself to yet another possible defeat from Kei. If she couldn't beat Kei, what chance would she have against Alec…?

"I won't lose to you, Kei!" Mai found herself shouting across to him. "If I can't beat you, then I can't beat Alec! So I can't lose to you!"

Kei said nothing. For some strange reason at that statement, that mention of Alec, he felt so inexplicably sad that he wanted to cry…

Mai suddenly found herself fighting to keep her composure too. "Gy…Gyarados! Use Aqua Tail on Milotic now!"

"Milotic, defend with Safeguard!"

The crowd screamed in delight as the two serpentine Pokemon launched straight into battle. No-one, bar Mai and Kei themselves, knew of the twinges of emotional pain this battle was causing them…

This was going to be the battle to end all battles.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I didn't intend for this arc to be so long! Ooops! :(**

**I'm really sorry for the delay; I've had so many issues with my other story and I don't know what to do with it at the moment...**

**So...who do you think is gonna win NOW?**

**AmpharosLover666: Hahaha! I love Kei; he's fantastic! :D And I wasn't the one who picked Kei's Pokemon, my friend picked them! He wanted Jynx because it was "unexpected"! Also, he really likes Jynx, so...I'm just the writer here! He made the desicions on Kei's Pokemon. **

**DoahShadow: Thank you very much for your review! :D Kei is very dense, isn't he? I don't think he has much of a clue and even if he does, he just denies any feelings. **

**Meta-Akira: Oh my goodness, thank you very very much for the awesome review! :D I'm so flattered!**

**RunningWithWolves11: Haha! I've wanted to see a battle between them too! Even I can't decide who's going to win right now...**

**Anonymous: Haha! I think a lot of people have been in poor Kei's position. He is a little...stupid for lack of a better word, eh? :D**

**Please read and review if you can! :D **


	14. Author's Note

Author's Note

I just have to say, apologies for those who may have gotten excited for a new chapter, this isn't a new update for the story obviously, just a quick apologetic note for my severe lack of updates the past two months. Unfortunately, uni has just been sooooo busy I can't find the time to write anything! I have two 2000 word essays due in for the 6th and a Psychology exam on the 7th of December, BUT after that, I am home free! Hopefully as I will then officially be on holiday, the updates should come!

I feel so awful for not finding the time to write Spirited _or _Opposites Attract, but the Christmas break should allow me ample time to catch up. I know doing this has probably lost me a lot of readers and I can only say sorry for my slacking off.

Please expect to see updates soon.


	15. On Opposite Sides Part III

Each Pokemon roared as their separate attacks collided. The crowd let out screams and hollers of excitement as the battle raged on. The attacks were of immense power, but as powerful and devastating as Gyarados's Aqua Tail was, it was pretty much useless against the defensive power of Milotic's Safeguard. Gyarados roared in outrage as its attack merely ricocheted off the protective barrier gleaming around Milotic's glistening body.

Kei saw an opportunity. Whilst Mai was still momentarily flummoxed with the failure of Gyarados's attack, Kei caught sight of a way to end the battle quickly. Not because he wanted to win… no, it had gone beyond that now. He just wanted to put an end to the battle. He hated feeling this way…he hated the pain, the inexplicable sadness, the buried feelings that had been drudged up during this battle. Not only for him…

"_Mai…"_ he found himself slowly thinking. "_I need to end this now. For you…_"

He swallowed hard. He found it difficult to push the words forward, to give the command he knew he had to give. "Milotic! Take it out with Ice Beam!"

Terror shot through Mai at that command.

"No!" Mai couldn't help but scream. She knew a super effective Ice move could be devastating for her and Gyarados!

Before Mai knew what was happening, a white chilly ball formed in Milotic's mouth. A mere moment later, it was expelled in the forms of thick, blue beams that blasted towards a stationary Gyarados!

Thoughts screamed through Mai's head. "_No! I'm not letting it end like this! I'm not losing again! I guess it's now or never!_"

It was time to use her little trump card she had been saving.

If there was any time to use a trump card, it was definitely now in the event of such a vicious, no doubt lethal Ice type move. It was a move she hadn't even told Kei that Gyarados knew yet, so difficult was the training she had undertaken to teach Gyarados the blasted thing. But now she thanked whatever heavenly entity had been watching over her that day she decided to bite the bullet and teach Gyarados this move, in case of a situation _just _like this one…

"Gyarados! Fire Blast now!"

The concept of a Gyarados learning a move like Fire Blast was certainly not unheard of, but Kei had never yet seen a Gyarados in person capable of pulling it off. As the thick intense flames were formed and roared towards Milotic, all of a sudden the beams of ice that Milotic had created seemed thin and weak to Kei… To his horror and as he suspected, the raging flames easily engulfed the fragile ice of Milotic's attack and the well trained serpent Pokemon was only _just _able to dodge out of the way even without a prompt from its trainer.

Frustration gripped Kei as he saw Milotic make its escape by the skin of its teeth. For a moment, he thought he could control himself, but it proved futile. His fists clenched of their own accord and he spat the bitter, rage filled words forward. "Dammit Mai!"

At his uncharacteristic outburst, she faced him, looking at him long, cold and hard. For a moment, his rage ebbed away as his eyes took in her features. Damn, that look of determination was all over that pretty face of hers again…

"I'm not losing to you again, Kei!"

Kei's rage melted away instantly only to be replaced with a resounding, empty sadness.

"_It's not _about _winning or losing anymore, don't you see that?_" Kei wanted to scream, but of course, he didn't. He couldn't.

Gyarados and Milotic were eyeing each other furiously and they slowly circled each other, their heads dipping and bopping as they moved. Mai's look of determination seemed stronger than ever as she looked up towards Gyarados. Kei could tell instantly she was figuring out when to pull out the finishing blow.

"_Dammit… that Fire Blast came out of nowhere! If Mai has any other tricks like that up her sleeve, I could be in trouble. I _need _to finish this now!_"

"Milotic!" he screamed before Mai could give her orders. "Hyper Beam now!"

A resounding gasp issued from the crowd. Even Mai stopped dead, a look of abject horror spreading rapidly over her face. Milotic let out a roar and began to power up the Hyper Beam. For a moment, Mai didn't know what to do. There was no way Gyarados could evade that! Could she even overpower it?

She didn't have much of a choice.

"Gyarados! Use Hyper Beam too!"

"_She's not—!" _Kei thought in horror.

But she was. Gyarados too began to gather energy, bright colours dancing around its mouth as the power began forming into a massive, glowing ball. The speed Gyarados gathered the energy was incredible, showing a masterful, practiced ease. Kei cursed to himself as even though he had given the command first, Mai's Gyarados had still caught up. The crowd were cheering and screaming in anticipation as the battle was finally ready to reach its climax.

Gyarados drew back and expelled the attack. The force and impact behind it sent ripples through the air and ground, and a kaleidoscope of orange and white colours dancing across Mai's vision. Panic gripped Kei from the inside as the massive beam shot towards himself and Milotic. But then, Milotic fought back, letting loose its own Hyper Beam, just as powerful and immense as Gyarados's. Kei foresaw immediately what was going to happen as soon as the beams hit and dove to the ground to protect himself. Mai on the other hand was either not as quick-thinking or not as lucky…

There was an almighty blast as soon as the beams collided. An explosion of orange and white blasted across Mai's vision before an almighty rumbling shook her to her very core. Suddenly the impact lifted her off her feet and threw her backwards and she landed hard on her back at least ten feet away.

For a moment, her vision was completely black and all she knew was the pain that was twanging through her back. Her first instinct was to get up; somehow, just get up but the ground was shaking too much! Slowly, it calmed and eventually stopped. Despite the horrible pain bounding through her back and just recently, her head, Mai groggily sat up. As her blurred eyesight slowly came back into focus, she was met with the image of a massive scene of destruction and her beloved Gyarados lying unconscious, covered in huge cuts and streams of blood. It was a horrible, ghastly image, seeing Gyarados's normally flawless brilliant blue scales streamed with blood and cuts

"Gyarados!" Mai screeched in panic, seeing her beloved Pokemon lying motionless on the ground. She attempted to stand up, but her body felt alien to her and didn't seem to want to respond. No sooner had she shakily clambered to her feet than she went down again. Pain wracked her body again as she collapsed to the ground and she found she couldn't get up again. The grief rose up in her like bitter gall as she realised her Pokemon was lying there, motionless, horribly injured and completely and utterly defeated. Because of her.

"I…I've lost…" Mai whispered, feeling tears drip down her face as she raised her head and ooked at Gyarados. The pain in her head was so consuming and so intense that she could barely focus on anything, apart from the crushing disappointment. She had lost… Kei had won.

"Mai!"

She could feel a warm body taking her into an embrace, but she didn't care. Tears were rolling down her face relentlessly and she struggled against the embrace that she knew was Kei's. For once, he could not comfort her. She felt horribly embarrassed, ashamed, foolish… How could she have thought she could beat Kei! She would never have been able to beat him! Never in her wildest dreams! She could hear him calling her name, feel him shaking her to get her to see sense, but she didn't care anymore. No matter what he could even_ attempt_ to do to make her feel better… it was useless. All she cared about was the fact she had lost.

"Mai, you're bleeding!" Kei's face suddenly came into sharp focus. "Come here,"

"No, leave me alone!" she insisted, trying to tear herself away but she couldn't break away from his grasp. "Let me go to Gyarados!"

"Gyarados is fine, he's just unconscious!" He said firmly, keeping a strong grip of her.

She stopped struggling abruptly. For a moment, Kei thought he had calmed her down, but then to his horror she burst into grief-stricken tears. "I lost!" she cried out miserably, feebly beating the ground with her fist.

"Mai, no! You didn't lose!" he said firmly. She noticeably flinched at his harsh tones and he immediately softened. "You didn't lose… we both did."

That stopped her tears almost immediately. She slowly locked eyes with Kei, her face relaxing and painted with a look of complete disbelief. "Wh…what?"

"If you actually looked _properly_…" Kei said, and with some strange instinct, reached out and slowly turned her face towards the scene facing them. "You'd see what I mean…"

Looking through a clear vision with Kei's prompts, Mai understood at once. Both her Gyarados _and _Kei's Milotic were slumped on the ground, both noticeably injured and both undoubtedly unconscious. Shock gripped her at the sight and she could only let out a squeak of disbelief. "Wh…what…?"

"The two Hyper Beams collided." Kei explained, putting his arm around her in his relief, feeling all of a sudden a lot calmer. "The impact knocked both Pokemon out…and well… you got a bit of an injury in the process too…"

As Kei said that, something slipped down Mai's face that she knew for certain wasn't a tear. She investigated it by gently running her fingers across her face and came away with tiny beads of blood dotting her hands. She blinked in surprise and then looked to Kei expectantly, as if looking for an answer. He only smiled and gently wiped away the blood slipping down her face. His soft fingers fleetingly brushing her face gave her a tiny jolt and she wished the touch would go on forever.

"Come on," he said softly. "Let's get Gyarados and Milotic safe in their Pokeballs…"

"Okay…" Mai said numbly, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

The crowd were mumbling in anger and disappointment as Mai and Kei walked over to both unconscious Pokemon. Mai was still in shock as she recalled Gyarados to its Pokeball and watched Kei recall the motionless Milotic. She looked at the Pokeball in her hand silently, hardly daring to believe what had happened… She couldn't even speak or look at Kei. The crowd, evidently hoping for some sort of scene or shouting match between the two trainers appeared disappointed with the lack of activity and slowly began filing out until finally there was no-one left apart from Mai and Kei.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Mai looked at her Pokeball and Kei stared at the ground as if he was fascinated by the grass or something. Neither of them knew what to say. Then, gathering some courage, Kei moved close to Mai, slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it lightly. "Well..." he said slowly. "I have to admit, I didn't expect this…"

"Y…yeah..." Mai said slowly. She couldn't focus on anything apart from the feeling of his hand in hers, his hand in hers, his hand in hers…

"I can't believe you were able to teach Gyarados Fire Blast!" Kei enthused eagerly, waving their clasped hands about in his sudden excitement. "You almost beat me with that move, you know!"

"Hmm…" Mai said noncommittally. She wasn't sure what to say…all she was conscious of was the warm feeling of her fingers intertwined with his…

"But you know…I can't believe we drew…" Kei suddenly became serious again.

"Me neither…" Mai managed to say softly.

The conversation left them again. They stood, hand in hand, not making eye contact for a few moments, thoughts rushing through their heads.

"_Why did I take her hand…? Am I insane! But…at least she's not pulling away…"_

"_He's trying to be nice, that's all it is… Just saw I was hurt and wanted to be a friend… Right?"_

"_I can't believe how close I came to losing against her… Where did she find all this strength…?" _

"_I still couldn't beat him after all this time… Yeah sure, I came close… but that's not enough… If I can't beat Kei… how the hell can I beat Alec?"_

"_She's crying again… God… I hate seeing her like this… but what do I do…?"_

"_I don't know what to do anymore… Kei… Just… just keep holding my hand… please?"_

"_Don't be stupid, Kei… What are you doing?"_

He gave a little start and then suddenly turned to Mai. "Come on, Mai. Let's get you back to the Pokemon Centre, okay…?"

Mai looked up through fresh tears and gave a little smile. "Okay…"

Kei gave her a little tug, before he let his hand slip from hers. As the warmth and comfort left her, Mai's heart gave a little disappointed shudder. She didn't want him to leave her! She wanted to keep holding on to his hand forever… This battle had shown her that. The threat of tears came again and threatened to overwhelm her, and she found she could not put one foot in front of the other to follow him. She just wanted to stand and cry…

"Mai…?" Kei's voice came again like some golden beam of sunlight through a fog of despair.

But she still couldn't answer him.

A tender, warm smile appeared on his face. "Oh, Mai… what are you like?"

A moment later, his hand was back in hers. Mai blinked in surprise at the sight of his strong hand engulfing her tiny fingers, and a warm sensation began to spread through her body at his touch. She blushed violently, feeling all of a sudden incredibly foolish, but noticing the caring, serious look on Kei's face, managed to shake it off. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze, and it was as if all her problems just melted away with his touch. She knew straight away she wanted to stay this way forever, holding his hand.

"Come on, lets go home." He grinned, pulling her close to him.

And that was how they walked home to the Pokemon Centre. All thoughts of the battle left Mai, all thoughts of Alec were lost, the real world was blocked out… all that mattered to her right now was Kei. She was with Kei and she was holding his hand. That was all that she cared about.

"_What am I doing…?" _A thought entered her head as they walked, linked together. "_Am I really…? For Kei? Of all people…for him?" _

As they walked, hand-in-hand and the sun began to dip down into the horizon, and the peak of the upcoming Pokemon Centre began to rise in the distance, Mai never felt happier and more at peace. She looked up at Kei, gently shadowed by the golden light, a little unexplained smile adorning his face and a flutter shot through her.

"_Okay…maybe I am… but maybe it's not too terrible…I'm happy._ _I just want to stay like this… maybe not forever, but for just a little while… I want him to be mine… just for a little while. That's not so terrible, is it?"_

That was the day Mai _knew_ she had fallen in love with her best friend.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Finally, an update! I only hope it doesn't disappoint! I don't know if I've quite gotten back into my regular writing style, but I hope that those of you so kind enough to wait for the conclusion will enjoy this.

I fly home from university tomorrow so after Christmas to just before Valentine's Day is my time off, so hopefully updates will be following accordingly.

Thank you to all those who waited so patiently.

OceanSpiral :)


	16. Wish Fulfilment

The first gentle waves of golden sunlight slowly began wafting into the little hotel room, invading the comfortable darkness of Irina's vision. She moaned and twisted her body around, trying to bury her head in the pillow to block it out. But it was useless. She was awake now, better to get up and make the most of the morning, she reasoned.

Reluctantly, she pushed herself out of the bed, flipping the warm, comfy covers away. She set her bare feet into the warm fluffy carpet, shivering a little as the cold morning air hit her. She had been instructed to travel light, so was not permitted to take an overnight bag with her. Unable to bring nightclothes, she was reduced to sleeping in a vest top and shorts. Shivering again, she started to pad her way to the tiny ensuite bathroom, but a hand closed around her wrist, stopping her.

"Irina…? Don't tell me you're getting up so soon?"

Irina slowly turned round to look at Alec in the other bed, lying with his head propped up by his other hand. A sly smile was spreading across his face as he stopped speaking, his eyes fixated, almost hungrily on her.

Irina smiled to pacify him. "Alec… you said last night that we would need to be up early to get back to Lake Valour…"

"Indeed, I did… but that was last night! Besides, it's only just gone five, Irina…" he said, still smiling. "Come back to bed for a while…"

Irina swallowed nervously. She was unsure of _whose _bed Alec was hinting at.

"I should really go and get ready, Alec…" she said, gently tearing her wrist from his grasp.

A cold look suddenly invaded his face. He grunted a little and rolled over, making it transparently clear he was not happy. "Very well. But hurry, since you're so eager, we will leave in an hour."

Letting out a little sigh of relief, Irina left the bedroom and padded into the bathroom, pondering her partner's strange behaviour. He was such a Jekyll and Hyde sometimes. He could both be as complacent and playful as a baby Growlithe, but then roar and bite and bellow like an Arcanine. As she stepped in the shower, letting the warm water cover her body, her mind was cast back to the previous night. Alec had been on edge all night as they had set up the equipment, but as soon as she had become angry and challenged him, he had become a totally different man. Smooth, cool and sensual, he had kissed her, and it had been, quite honestly, one of the most beautiful experiences of her life. It had been one of the few times she had actually _enjoyed _Alec's strange infatuation with her.

But that infatuation had melted away as soon as they returned to the tiny hotel they were staying in, and Alec had gone straight to his bed, snapping at Irina to be up early for the next phase of the plan. It confused her completely… why was his infatuation so strong one minute and then completely gone the next? It confused her to no end… but it was one of the reasons she found herself constantly going back to him…

Every woman did love an enigma. That was for sure.

* * *

The golden sunlight streaming in to the tiny Pokemon Centre room was a welcome sight for Mai. She had had a restless sleep, tossing and turning, frequently stirring awake. Thoughts of the previous day's happenings were fresh in her mind, everything from the battle she and Kei had participated in, to her worries over what her brother Alec was planning, and most importantly, the way Kei had taken her hand, and how she had finally come to terms with the feeling she secretly harboured for her best friend.

As the room gradually grew lighter, she turned on her side to look at her slumbering friend. He was lying, curled up in a little ball, his arm wrapped around the pillow, his face partially hidden. Mai smiled to herself. He looked so cute lying like that…

"_Oh, come on, Mai. Stop thinking like this. Kei doesn't like you in that way…_" she thought sadly to herself, rolling onto her back and staring up at the white ceiling. "_Better to just accept it and move on…_" she stifled a yawn and closed her eyes again, just to rest them.

It was at that moment that Kei stirred awake. His eyes fluttered slowly open, and after wincing in the harsh light of the sun, he found himself focusing on Mai. Memories of the previous night came to back to him, and he remembered finally allowing himself to give into those forbidden feelings surfacing in him, demanding his attention. He remembered comforting her at the end of the battle, taking her hand and walking with her, hand-in-hand back to the Pokemon Centre.

"_She's so beautiful…_" he surprised himself by thinking. "_Oh, God, Kei, get a grip. She doesn't feel the same. And you need to stop making it so obvious too! She can't find out…_"

Reluctantly, Kei pushed himself out of his bed to get washed and dressed. As he grabbed his towel, shower things and a change of clothes, he failed to see Mai snap her eyes open as she heard movement and blush fiercely upon seeing him.

Upon returning from a refreshing shower, Kei was shocked when he, upon return to the room, found Mai sitting at the desk, calmly brushing her hair, fully dressed and ready to go. As he entered the room fully, Mai turned in her seat, flashing him a smile, making his heart leap slightly in his chest.

"Morning Kei!"

"Good morning, Mai," he greeted her in return, tossing his wet towel on the crumpled bed. "You're up… early…"

"I could say the same for you," she grinned, setting her hairbrush down.

"I guess," he said, flopping down on his bed, searching for something interesting to say.

For a moment, there was complete silence. Both Mai and Kei suddenly found the memories of the previous night, more specifically them holding hands, running through their minds, making them both feel intensely awkward. Kei focused on forcing back the severe blush but it was Mai that cracked first.

Getting to her feet, and feeling her voice crack with embarrassment, she attempted to speak coherently. "A…a…anyway! You know, I was thinking last night…"

Snapping back into his senses, Kei quipped "A dangerous thing for you, eh Mai?"

Mai stopped, mid-sentence, completely taken aback by his statement. She blinked, not really sure how to take this sudden feeling of normalcy that had struck her. She compromised by firing a "Shut up, Kei!" with as much force behind it as she could, before carrying on. "Listen, since we're in Pastoria… why don't we go visit the Great Marsh?"

Kei's jaw dropped and he let out a groan that wasn't even in the _least _bit feigned. "Whaaaaat? You have _got _to be joking! Please tell me you're joking?"

Mai shook her head. "No… that's the whole reason we _came _to Pastoria, right?"

"But you don't want any more Pokemon!"

"We've had this conversation before, Kei." Mai said, but she still couldn't help but crack a smile. "I've told you, I'm not really interested in _catching _Pokemon. I just want to see it!"

"Why!"

"It's meant to be a lovely place to visit!" she said, remembering a flyer she had seen pinned on to the notice board of the Pokemon Centre. "Besides, I think it would give us a good chance to see the Pokemon of Sinnoh really up close! You know, every time we battle someone here, we almost never know what the Pokemon are! If we go observe at least _some _of them in their natural habitat, we might learn something!"

"So we're going there to _learn_?" Kei said shrilly.

Mai shrugged. "Essentially, yes…"

Kei let out another low groan and put his head in his hands. "Do I _have _to?"

Mai smiled. "Yeah. You kinda do."

"Ugh, fine!" he gave in. "But I hope to hell we're going to eat _some _manner of breakfast before we go there? Please, Arceus, tell me there's breakfast!"

Mai snickered to herself. "Yes, Kei. There's breakfast… there's _always _breakfast with you."

* * *

Bellies satisfyingly full, the two friends sought out the Great Marsh. After surrendering their Pokemon and Pokeballs to the man in charge, (something that Kei greatly protested against, considering he had rarely been gone an _hour _in the past nine years of his life without the security of being with his beloved Milotic), the two friends headed in, equipped with 30 Safari Balls and a strict hour long time limit.

"Well… this is different…" Kei observed, looking around the strange Great Marsh.

Kei had understood how marshy the areas surrounding Pastoria had been, having struggled through them with Mai on the way to the city itself. He had been pleasantly surprised to see that the city itself did not sit on the boggy, marshy land and was almost no different from the grassy suburbs of the other cities. He had almost hoped that the Great Marsh that sat snugly on the outskirts of the city wouldn't be as marshy as the terrain that surrounded it. Well, he was wrong. The Great Marsh, as the name implied, was one _heck _of a lot marshier than he expected.

There was a giant expanse of deep, marshy ground right in front of them that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see. Tall grass sprung up all around them, some of the bushes almost taller than Mai! Patches of solid, hard ground were few and far between, which Kei quickly calculated would make it exceedingly difficult to make it out of the Great Marsh without being soaking wet and covered in mud.

Even worse, as Kei took a few tentative steps forward, he discovered something else he didn't like about the Great Marsh. What seemed like solid ground proved annoyingly deceptive, and as he leant his full wait on a patch of grassy ground, his foot sunk straight in! Cold mushy mud enveloped his foot and as he shrieked in shock, attempting to pull himself free, he overbalanced and fell backwards, landing straight on his backside, minus his left shoe. It stood, comically, perfectly upright in the thick mud.

"Kei?" Mai gasped in shock, genuinely concerned for him. "Are you okay?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Kei muttered angrily, attempting to get to his feet without falling again. If he had not been so preoccupied with trying to get up without squishing his foot protected only by a thin sock into the freezing mud, he would have realised how strange it was for Mai to show _genuine _worry over him. Normally, she would have laughed at him, made fun of him, probably even grabbed his shoe and run off with it… he wouldn't have put any of those options beyond her… but never ask him if he was okay.

Watching her friend give in and scramble to his feet, one foot squishing in the mud, Mai regained herself and consulted her map. They had already wasted five minutes standing at the entrance and Mai was keen to get a move on. But how to get Kei motivated to actually become involved and look around instead of standing there like a gormless Slowpoke, she wasn't sure. But then it came to her in a wondrous stroke of inspiration.

"Kei," she ventured slowly as he eventually righted himself. "I tell you what; let's make this a little more interesting, shall we?"

"Oh, I have no idea how you can make crawling around on your _face _in mud more interesting, Mai!" Kei replied grouchily, attempting (and failing) to pull his shoe out of the marshy mud it was stuck in.

"You didn't fall on your face," Mai pointed out.

He merely grunted at her as he eventually managed to recover his shoe and shove it back on his foot.

Mai ignored him. "How do you feel about a little challenge? Let's see… how about the first one to capture a Pokemon in the Great Marsh wins?"

Kei almost fell over again in his shock. "Are you serious?"

"Perfectly serious," Mai deadpanned.

"But… but… but…!" Kei protested. "You said you didn't _want _to capture any more Pokemon for your team!"

"I don't." she shrugged her shoulders.

"Then why…?"

Mai shrugged. "I just… I don't know. It… it reminds me of when we were young, you know?"

"Oh yeah…" Kei understood, recalling a time when the two of them were still young when Mai, in an attempt to motivate Kei to catch Pokemon other than Milotic, challenged Kei to a Pokemon catching contest whilst they were in the middle of Viridian Forest for training. The nature of the contest was pretty similar to the set up Mai was trying to achieve now. The first to catch a Pokemon was the winner, with the loser having to buy the other lunch. "We did something similar like that when we just started out, didn't we?"

Mai chuckled. "Yeah. We did. I'm surprised you remembered."

"How could I forget," he said darkly. "You won, remember? Within three minutes you'd caught a Pokemon. What was it again…?"

"Are you kidding me?" Mai laughed. "It was my Pikachu, remember? You know, the one I evolved to Raichu when we were sixteen?"

"Oh yeah!" Kei snapped his fingers as he remembered. "You were so proud when you caught that little Pikachu!"

"Yep!" Mai giggled. "And do you remember what happened next?"

"Yeah… I had to buy you lunch…" he replied sadly, but then he perked up again. "God… that seemed like such a long time ago, doesn't it?"

"It really does." Mai nodded, suddenly realising for herself. "It must have been what… six years ago now…?"

"At least," Kei nodded, laughing and running a hand through his floppy hair. "When you think about it… we've been through a lot together, me and you. Haven't we?"

Mai blushed. "Yeah… I guess we have."

For a moment, both friends were silent, reminiscing on their shared trainer journeys. Mai quickly gathered her thoughts, clearing her throat loudly and refocusing their attentions. "So, what do you say? How about the challenge? For old times' sake?"

Kei looked at her. "But what about the Pokemon the winner catches? What do we do with it?"

Mai shrugged. "Whatever we want. Keep it, or release it, or sent it home to the Professor so he can do research on it. I'm sure the Professor would love to see some Sinnoh Pokemon for himself."

"And the prize for the winner?"

"Same as it was six years ago. Lunch, on the loser."

"Hmm," Kei murmured, sounding tempted. "But… still… can we really catch a Pokemon, a _wild _Pokemon by just throwing around a Pokeball? And what if the Pokemon attack us! Or… or… we run out of Pokeballs? Or time? What happens if we run out of time?"

"Calm down, Kei." Mai grinned. "If a wild Pokemon comes after us, we just run for it. If someone runs out of Pokeballs, they lose by default. If we run out of time, then we pay again and repeat the whole challenge."

"Oh… brilliant…" Kei said weakly.

"Now come on!" Mai grinned, suddenly feeling excited. "Let's do this!"

Kei let out a groan.

"Right, it says here…" Mai didn't wait for an answer from Kei and instead busied herself by brandishing a map of the Great Marsh in his direction. "That the Great Marsh has six different areas, each with different Pokemon to capture. So that gives us plenty of places to go looking for Pokemon!"

"I guess…" Kei responded unenthusiastically.

"Okay! Then we're set!" Mai folded away the map and stuffed it in her pocket. "Well, I'm gonna head to the fifth area, away over there!" she singled out the area with her finger. "It looks promising! So, let's go! Call me as soon as you catch something! On-your-mark-get-set-GO!" she yelled.

And with that, she was gone, leaving Kei in the dust.

Kei blinked as he watched her hack her way across the thick grass and mud, heading towards area five. She was making good speed; he had to admit, despite the thick mud and perilous ground. He watched her disappear from his sight as she squeezed her body through an expanse of tall grass, almost as big as she was.

"_What the hell have I gotten myself into_…?" he wondered to himself, before reluctantly dragging his feet after her to Area 5.

* * *

"_Okay, this isn't so hard, right? All I have to do is catch a Pokemon before Mai does. _Or _I could do nothing and just sit tight until she catches something… Oh, but that could take too long! _And _that would mean having to pay out money for food_!"

Kei pushed his way through a cluster of massive tall grass and reeds, near to a tiny pond of clear water. Stopping at the sight of the pond, he debated for a moment about hiding near the water in the hope of ambushing a tiny water Pokemon as it went about its business. "_That could work! Mai never said the Pokemon had to be powerful! Heck, I could come back with a _Magikarp _and I could technically win! Oh… but it's too bad I don't have my rod with me_…"

Turning away for a second to survey the area, Kei found it almost deserted. Not even the cry of a Starly, Sinnoh's version of a Pidgey, permeated the air. There were no sign of any Pokemon. No sign of Mai either, he lamented.

"_Why am I doing this…_?" Kei wondered to himself, pulling out a bright green Safari ball and inspecting it. "_Why is _Mai _doing this? I really don't know if I buy this whole "for old times" thing. Damn that girl. I just wish I knew what was she was thinking a little bit more!_"

Suddenly feeling bitter, he hurled the Safari Ball as hard as he could. He was surprised at the strength he mustered as the ball went sailing through the air, longer and faster than he expected. As it was still flying through the air, he caught sight of Mai suddenly appear on top of a large, muddy and grassy hill, surrounded by trees. She herself was covered in mud with grass sticking to her, but she didn't look like she had captured anything.

"Kei!" she called, her voice clear across the silent sky. "Have you caught anything!"

"No!" he called back, but as he turned back, he saw his Pokeball sink into a pile of ferny bushes. A dull, resounding _thwack _echoed all around the Marsh, followed by the unmistakable sounds of a Pokeball opening, hitting the ground and then immediately bursting open again.

"_Oh crap…_"

Second later, _something _burst out of the undergrowth. Kei let out a terrified screech as he caught sight of it. This thing looked _mad_! It was a strange pale purple in colour, looked horrifyingly like an overgrown scorpion and had razor sharp jaws, claws and a vicious stinger on the end of its tail.

It let out a strange hissing sound and immediately started rampaging towards Kei. Kei, completely freaked out, didn't move, his body suddenly completely detached from what his brain was yelling at him to do. Mai screamed and immediately started running downhill towards Kei. But it was horrendously difficult, the mud was slippery and squelchy and it was almost impossible to run through, as she sunk down into the marsh with every step she took.

Then the strange scorpion Pokemon launched itself at Kei, its vicious stingers snapping, like it so eagerly wanted to crush something between them. Kei did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed a Safari Ball and chucked it, full force, at the incoming Pokemon. The ball hit the ground, shook furiously for a few seconds, and then, miraculously stilled.

Blinking in shock, Kei gingerly picked up the Pokeball, as if half expecting it to burst open and for the Pokemon to resume its attack. But it stayed stationary.

"Kei!"

Kei looked up to see Mai charging downhill, laughing, a look of intense glee and complete shock all over her face. "You caught it! You caught i—whoa!"

But as Mai was speeding downhill on such slippery mud, it was inevitable really that she would fall or slip or trip. Somehow she lost her footing, slipped completely and began to stumble downhill on the steep incline. She was still laughing as she slipped and slid all over the place and Kei couldn't help but laugh too, she looked such a sight!

Still laughing, she collided straight into Kei. Knocked off balance, the two of them fell straight to the ground. The momentum of their crash sent them rolling a good few paces, before they eventually slowed to a stop. Mai found herself laughing hysterically, lying right on top of Kei. He was laughing uproariously, still clutching the Pokeball containing the new Pokemon he had just caught.

"Kei… Kei…" Mai laughed, trying to catch her breath, looking down on her friend "You… you won…?"

"I know!" he laughed back, staring back up at her. "I… I can't believe it either! Looks like lunch is on you, then!"

"Haha! I guess so!"

The two of them were laughing so much they couldn't even speak. Slowly, as they began to calm down, Kei noticed that Mai, as she looked down on him, the rays of the sun behind her, even despite her being covered in mud, that Mai…was really beautiful. The way her coffee coloured eyes sparkled as she spoke, the way her little nose scrunched up when she laughed, the way her perfect mouth parted every now and again, flashing her white, almost flawless teeth. Perfect apart from the one little canine tooth that poked out a little, kind of like a vampire's… Kei loved it. He loved everything about her. Every single thing.

Mai had stopped laughing now. Something strange had come over her and she could not look away from him. She was staring intently into Kei's eyes. Mud had smeared completely across his face, his hair was sticking up all over the place, and there was a goofy smile there that made the whole of his eyes light up. He was a complete and utter goofball.

And she was in love with that goofball.

The two of them were suddenly very aware of the predicament they were in. Mai was lying completely on top of Kei and the two of them were completely soaked in mud and grass. What any onlookers would have thought if they came across them, Mai didn't want to know. But for just that moment, she didn't care.

"Oh, Kei…" she shook her head, slowly scraping a lock of mud-soaked hair from Kei's face. "Look at us… what a state, eh?" she asked him softly.

"Mai…" Kei whispered. His spare hand seemed to move under a will of its own, stroking a fleck of mud from Mai's face.

Neither Mai nor Kei realised how close they had been moving towards each other until their noses almost bumped together. But even still, they did not pull away from each other. As they neared ever closer, they could feel each other's breath tickling their faces. To Mai, Kei smelled sweet, like vanilla and she inhaled his scent deeply. For Kei, Mai smelled bittersweet, like coffee. It seemed so fitting.

Seconds later, their lips touched.

Mai's lips, soft and warm against Kei's, rougher and cooler, was like a barrage of fireworks going off in both the back of their heads. As their lips came into contact, almost hesitantly at first, and slowly latched on to each other, in an instinct that didn't really belong to him, Kei dropped the Pokeball he was holding and twisted his arm around Mai's back, pulling her closer. At the same time, Mai's arm wound its way under Kei's neck, pulling him up. It was soft, smooth, and sensual; everything both of them had anticipated it to be. Neither of them could believe it was happening; their lips locked together, their bodies entwined, finally able to show the other the nature of their true feelings for each other.

And that it is how it happened. That is how the best friends for almost ten years, ended up entangled in each other's arms, kissing in the shadows of an afternoon sun. A gentle wind tickled their bodies, the cries of Pidgey and Starly echoed all around them, the golden beams of the sun shone down on them as if it approved… They came together in a hauntingly beautiful display of wish fulfilment, and for those few, precious moments, all was right with the world…

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I haven't written for Opposites Attract in months and I feel terrible. I probably lost a bunch of readers, but hey. For those who are still reading, thank you! **

**I hope this little step up with Mai and Kei is well-recieved.**

**I'm attempting to give myself a few days break from Spirited so I can reclaim my thoughts on it and make the ending awesome :)**

**Please read and review**


	17. A Great Catch

But all of a sudden the spell broke. Realization of what she had just done hit her like a smack in the face. She could practically see the magic and beauty of the moment disappear from right in front of her. Mortified, and in total denial of what she had just done, she tore herself away from Kei. He protested vaguely as she darted away, looking shocked and as he instinctively reached out to her again, Mai panicked. Taking fright as he extended his hand towards her, her own seemed to take on a mind of its own and with one fluid movement; she slapped Kei straight across the face! While Kei inadvertently shot backwards, Mai struggled to her feet, backing away, her heart thumping, blood pumping and a million thoughts running through her head.

"_Oh my God! What just happened? What have I done? What did I _do_? Dammit, Mai! What the hell were you thinking?_"

"Mai!" Kei shouted indignantly. He was rubbing his cheek furiously, but he didn't look angry, but hurt and wounded. "What… what… the hell was that for!"

"I… you…" Mai babbled, too many conflicting thoughts invading her head. "_Oh no, I can't tell him I kissed him! But…but maybe… maybe it was _him _that kissed _me! _Oh God, I don't know which one of us kissed the other! If I kissed him then that means… that means… Oh no! I just showed him how I feel! But… but what if he kissed me…? Then that means… is it possible that he…? No! He can't! He doesn't! Oh God! What do I do? How the hell did this _happen! _How am I going to explain this?_"

"Mai!" Kei said again, bringing an internally panicking Mai back into the present. He looked at her, his hand still covering the red slap mark on his face. "You…" he ventured. "You…" he tried again, looking stunned. "You… you kissed me!" he eventually managed to say, a hint of a laugh in his voice.

Mai freaked out at once. "No! No! I didn't! You kissed me!"

"What?" Kei looked at her like she was mad, at the same time a fierce blush reddening his face even further. "No, y…y…you k…ki…kissed me!" he stuttered.

"I did not! _You _kissed me!" Mai insisted frantically, her face turning an interesting array of pinks and reds.

"No, you kissed me!"

"I didn't! I didn't! You kissed me!" Mai was practically jumping up and down now, trying to make her point as clear as she could.

Fully expecting Kei to retaliate with "you kissed me!" and for the cycle to just keep on looping around, his altogether different reaction made a jolt of disbelief surge through Mai.

"All right, fine! Fine!" Kei's outburst only raged for a second before he suddenly softened, and he looked away, staring at the ground. He said nothing for a moment, tracing a pattern in the mud, a fierce blush invading his face. Mai watched him for a moment, her heart thumping in her chest before he eventually croaked out "I… I kissed you."

Mai froze. Her hands unclenched and fell limply to her sides. Her entire face softened and she looked down at him, her feelings overwhelming her. "Wh… what did you say?"

"You heard me," his voice was nervous and cracked from time to time. "I…" he let out a little humourless laugh, like he couldn't believe what he was saying. "I kissed you, Mai. Okay, I admit it. And you wanna know why I kissed you?"

Mai couldn't bring herself to say anything. She was almost afraid of the answer.

"I really like you, Mai." He brought his head up to look deep in her coffee coloured eyes. The intensity of his stare and the emotion behind those words made Mai's heart leap. She found she couldn't look away. "I do. I really do." he stood up, walking a few steps closer to her, a smile breaking out over his face.

As his tall frame towered over her, Mai couldn't help but feel a wondrous combination of feelings. Joy. Elation. Disbelief. Eager anticipation. Even another furious rush of love towards the boy standing in front of her. She wanted to fall to his feet, tell him everything proclaim her love to him, or take him right there and then, and kiss him. But she found that she couldn't…

Something was niggling at the back of her mind. Something had just become apparently frighteningly clear to her. Her feelings for Kei… could she really trust them? They had cropped up so suddenly and so intensely… she couldn't really be sure they were for _real. _It was entirely possible, given what had happened with Alec, she was just desperate for some manner of comfort and attention… and had projected it on to Kei. Was this real love she was feeling? Or just desperation? She didn't know…

"Kei…" she half-heartedly pulled away when he rested a hand on her arm. "I don't know… I don't know if I can do this…"

"What?" he said, looking genuinely hurt. "Wh…why?" he asked in disbelief.

"I do like you," Mai chose her words carefully and delicately, trying to ignore the delighted look that spread over Kei's face. Seeing that made it even harder for her to push her words forward. "But… I'm not sure if these feelings I'm having are just because of… because of what happened with Alec."

"I don't understand…"

"Like… I'm scared that I'm only feeling this way because I _need _someone right now,"

Mai's voice cracked with emotion. This was one of the hardest things she had ever had to say. She was almost certain her feelings towards Kei were real… but she couldn't risk herself investing that much in a relationship and then having it fall apart around her feet. What if having a relationship distracted her from getting strong, so she could stop her brother? She couldn't risk that.

"Seeing Alec like that the other day… it scared me, Kei… I don't want to ever be in that position again… where I'm not strong enough to stop whatever threats get in my way. If I… if I go out with you, I'm scared I'll lose focus… I'm scared that my feelings for you are just because I feel scared of… of…" She couldn't finish her sentence without tears dripping down her face. "I feel scared of being alone… being alone and vulnerable…"

Kei found Mai's words tug at his heartstrings. "_Who knew… who knew that she was harbouring such horrible feelings to herself like that all this time? She worries that she feels scared of being "alone" and "vulnerable"… when she know she's not either of those things… She's scared that she only likes me because of that…"_

"Mai," he said softly. "Do you remember what I said to you, when we had that battle? And what I said to your brother when he tried to take you away?"

She gave a little start at his words and slowly looked up at Kei. She had no choice but to shake her head. "No…" she admitted sadly.

He drew closer to her, close enough that Mai could practically hear his heart thudding in his chest. He ached to pull her closer still, wrap his arms around her, but he somehow resisted and spoke instead. "I said that I'd do anything I could to keep you safe," he smiled. "I vowed that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You're never going to be "alone", Mai. You're never going to be "vulnerable". Not while I'm here anyway."

Mai blinked in surprise. "That's… that's very eloquent of you, Kei."

Kei laughed nervously. "Well, you know…"

"But Kei, you can't be with me all the time…" Mai said, regaining a serious tone. "You can't keep me safe forever… I don't want to have to be looked after! I don't _want _to be vulnerable!"

"Well, you know, Mai… that little bit of vulnerability you showed?"

Mai cringed, wanting to sink her head into her hands. "What about it?" she groaned.

"That's what made me fall in love with you."

Mai almost collapsed to the ground in her shock. "L…lo…?" she stuttered uncontrollably for a moment, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping open like a caught Magikarp. It took her a few tries to get the word out whole. "Love?"

"Yeah," Kei nodded, smiling, his hand slowly covering hers. She didn't resist, in fact, she wriggled her fingers a little until they were comfortably entwined with his. "You were always so strong, so tough and you never took any help of anyone. You were like a little tomboy." He laughed, looking down on her with nostalgic loving eyes. "And don't get me wrong, I love you for that too." He added flippantly, letting out a little laugh. "But it was that little flash of vulnerability you showed me that really made me realise how I felt about you. The first time you cried in front of me, when your brother left… that just showed me how much I really, really wanted to be with you… you just seemed so human… I'd never seen that side of you before…"

Mai really couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You mean… you fell in love with me… because I _cried_?"

"Well, when you put it like that it just makes me sound like a creep!" Kei laughed and Mai couldn't but giggle as well. "But yeah… essentially, I guess. That was the first time I really saw you as a _woman _and not as a friend…"

"Kei…" Mai shook her head, completely stunned. "I…" she faltered, struggling with what to say. "I…I don't get it. Why? Why me? You've always had your pick of the ladies ever since we became Elites! All those beautiful fan-girls… I mean, look at me!" Mai swept her hands up and down her body. "I'm not… I'm not pretty or anything; I don't have a nice personality, I mean, look at how badly I treat _you_! And you… you're so amazing! You promised to protect me against my nutjob of a brother, for Arceus's sake! Don't get me wrong, Kei, I really like you! I _want _to be with you! But you can do so much better than me!"

Kei could only smile as Mai wittered on, getting herself into such a fluster, claiming she wasn't good enough, she wasn't pretty enough, she wasn't nice enough she wasn't this, she wasn't that, but Kei didn't care. "Mai." He said firmly, trying to get her attention. She didn't stop talking, in fact, if anything, it made her talk quicker and louder. "Mai! Seriously, you talk too much,"

She stopped just in time for Kei to lean in and kiss her again.

The kiss was long, smooth and passionate, the two communicating all the feelings they couldn't put into words for each other with this one shared act.

The kiss seemed to go on forever, but once it eventually did stop, they broke apart and Kei pulled Mai into a tight embrace. Kei was pulling Mai so close and so tightly towards him that Mai felt she could have been absorbed into him!

"Just for the record, Kei…" Mai murmured breathily into Kei's chest.

"What?"

She smiled, craning her head upwards to look at him. "_You_ kissed _me _…" she stated with a giggle, remembering their earlier argument.

"I guess I did, Miss Mai." He grinned warmly down at her. "I guess I did."

* * *

The Great Marsh attendant sitting idly at his desk did not even bat an eyelid as the two mud soaked trainers traipsed back inside from the marshlands. He wasn't even bothered by the fact they seemed to trail in half the mud of the Great Marsh along with them, making a mental note to call the cleaners once they left. He did however raise an eyebrow ever so slightly as he caught sight of the two trainers holding hands and looking _very _self-conscious about it. They had definitely not been doing that when they came in, he recalled.

"Catch anything?" he inquired politely as he took the spare, unused Safari balls back from the mud-spattered, nervous looking teenagers.

"Yeah," the boy replied, his voice wavering a little, showing off a Safari ball, but casting glances at the girl he was holding hands with all the while. "I think it's called Skorupi… or something like that."

The man nodded his approval. "You should be proud. Very few people come across them, they're very rare. That's a great catch."

"I don't know," a warm look spread across the boy's face as he looked down at the girl he was holding hands with. "I think I may have caught something a little better…"

"Kei!" the girl blushed furiously.

"Very nice, Sir," the man behind the counter smiled, pushing the Pokeballs and backpacks belonging to the two trainers across to them. "Thank you for visiting the Great Marsh, have a good day."

"Oh, I will," the boy nodded, a wide beaming grin spreading across his face, as he looked down with evident adoration at the girl he was holding hands with. "I really, really, will."

* * *

As Kei unlocked the room to the Pokemon Centre, allowing Mai to slip in before him, he found himself still in complete shock at everything that had just happened. He and Mai… they were together now… she had loved him, same as how he loved her. It was almost unthinkable. He almost thought it was a dream and he fully expected to wake up, and have the whole thing shatter right in front of him. But it didn't happen. It simply didn't happen. Kei was slowly starting to come around to the idea that this was really happening…

He smiled and entered the room, dropping his mud-spattered bag on the ground. He looked at the new Safari Ball he had found himself taking with him back to the Pokemon Centre, in exchange for temporarily storing his Jynx in the special PCs down in the lobby. After all the excitement about he and Mai had eventually calmed down, he quickly realised he was left with a Pokemon he honestly didn't know what to do with.

Meanwhile, Mai stood helplessly in the middle of the room, unable to sit down without smearing whatever she touched in mud. Not keen on getting saddled with a bill for cleaning, she decided she would have to get washed before doing anything else. She let out a little sigh, grabbed a towel and shower stuff and turned to face Kei.

"I should probably go shower…"

"Yeah… I should too. Even though I showered this morning," he said with a little chuckle.

She giggled as she walked up to him. She paused next to him, rising slightly on her tip-toes, craning her head up as if she was to kiss him. But she blushed furiously as she got closer and ended up brushing past him and padding down the hall as if nothing had happened. Kei watched her go, smiling fondly, shaking his head, feeling a warm fuzzy sensation pull at his heart. She was so cute, he thought to himself.

"_And she's finally mine…" _

* * *

When Kei returned from his own shower, after fiercely scrubbing at every speck of mud he had on his body, he found Mai sitting at the foot of his bed, giggling as she played with her Raichu. He hung back at the doorway, watching her tickle the electric mouse Pokemon and giggle happily as it affectionately butted into her. She looked so cute sitting there playing with Raichu, in her little shortie pyjamas, her black hair still damp, like she didn't have a care in the world. He wanted to watch her forever…

But she had caught sight of him and her entire face lit up when she saw him. "Kei!" she cried delightedly, as if she hadn't seen him in years.

"Hey," he said softly, perching at the end of the bed next to her, giving Raichu a little tickle under his chin. "You okay?"

"I'm good!" she grinned. "You?"

"Great. Really great," he said, and just to comply with it, draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close into him.

They stayed like that for a few moments, just enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies, before Mai broke the silence. From the end of the bed she produced the Safari Ball that contained Kei's new Pokemon, Skorupi, still with an undetermined fate. "I meant to ask," she ventured, pressing the Safari Ball into Kei's hands. "What are you going to do with this guy?"

Kei took the Pokeball and inspected it thoughtfully. "I don't really know… I mean… this is only the seventh Pokemon that I've ever caught… and the rules say you can only ever carry six Pokemon with you at a time… it seems unfair to leave this one out because he came a little late in the game." He looked at Mai. "What do you think? I mean, you've caught almost thirty Pokemon, right? What was it you did with all the ones you don't carry?"

"I sent them home back to the Professor in Kanto," Mai said, remembering with fondness all the Pokemon she had caught over her seven years as a trainer. It had taken her a long time to finely tune her final team of Pokemon and had gone through several variations throughout the years. However, that was where the resident Pokemon Professor of their hometown had come in handy. Eager to study Pokemon both native to Kanto and all the other regions, he had been more than happy to provide Mai's Pokemon with a place to live in exchange for the ability to research them. Mai was able to get any of her Pokemon back whenever she wanted, of course, and from time to time enjoyed having some of her other Pokemon sent up to reacquaint herself with them, and let them see a change of scenery and have a chance to run around with their trainer.

"That wouldn't really be fair on it though, would it?" Kei asked sadly. "The poor thing would be really lonely without its trainer."

"My Pokemon get on fine," Mai pointed out. "The Professor takes really good care of them!"

"I know, but the reason I kept such a small team was that I could keep them all together…" Kei said sadly. "I don't want anyone left out… not anyone."

"I don't think you have much of a choice," Mai pointed out gently. "It's either release him or send him home to the Professor. I think sending it to the Professor would be a better choice, for you and for the Skorupi."

"Yeah, you're right," Kei sighed resignedly. "I just feel sort of sorry for it…"

"Why not release it?" Mai suggested lightly. "See what he's like?"

Kei blinked, like the idea had never even occurred to him. "Yeah," he shrugged. "Why not?"

With a causal flick of his wrist, he tossed the green Safari Ball to the floor. It burst in a jolt of white light, revealing the Skorupi. It twitched in surprise as it saw Mai and Kei looking down at it, opened its tiny mouth and made a strange sort of hissing, rattling sound, its tail quivering furiously.

"Hey… hey Skorupi!" Kei said nervously, and Mai couldn't help but smile at his nervousness. He hadn't tried to attempt a bond with a new Pokemon in years, having picked his team by the time he was only thirteen. It was only natural he was so tense and uneasy.

The Skorupi hissed fiercely as Kei reached out a hand to it, snapping its jaws together viciously. Kei retracted his hand sharply, looking terrified.

"Aww, he seems a little nervous…" Mai observed, kneeling down on the floor next to the Skorupi. It hissed in indignation as Mai got too close for its liking, but it didn't attempt to attack her, which was good news.

"_He's _nervous?" Kei exclaimed. "What about _me_? I haven't taken on a new Pokemon in years! I wouldn't know where to begin with this one!"

"I know," Mai said patiently. "But let's face it; you've dealt with a lot worse than this Skorupi. I'm sure; with a little hard work you'll have a great Pokemon in him! I'll bet one day he could even be as strong as Milotic! Wouldn't that be cool?"

Kei laughed at the uncharacteristic display of almost childlike eagerness in Mai. "Maybe you're right," he shuffled forwards to join Mai on the floor. He casually draped his arm around her once again, and reached out to give the Skorupi a small piece of Pokemon food. The Pokemon took it inquisitively, before chomping it up with its tiny teeth. "There you go," Kei said warmly. "That's nice, isn't it? Probably a lot nicer than all that yucky stuff you eat in the Great Marsh,"

"Kei, do you even know what Skorupi eat in the wild?" Mai asked, out of interest.

Kei looked back at her and shrugged. "Not really… but I would imagine it was disgusting!"

Mai giggled, and cuddled in closer to Kei. She could barely believe that this was all really happening. It was unbelievable to think that just yesterday, the two of them had still been stuck firmly as friends, and now… they had confessed their love to each other. It was truly amazing to think of it now. Mai felt happier than she ever had before in Kei's warm embrace. She couldn't believe they were together… that he loved her as much as she loved him.

Kei laughed as the little Skorupi comically scurried forwards on its little legs, frightening Mai's Raichu, making sparks fly out of the electric Pokemon's cheeks. As he sat there, watching the Skorupi and Raichu chatter away to each other in their Pokemon language, Mai leaning against him, he felt a surge of happiness sparkle through him. He pulled Mai closer to him until she was leaning his whole weight on him. She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her, sliding down the side of the bed until he was almost lying down, with her alongside him. They stayed like that for a few moments, until Kei eventually broke the sweet silence.

"Hey, Mai?"

"Yeah," she replied, her face buried in his chest, breathing in his soft sweet scent.

"I love you,"

Even though Kei couldn't see her, Mai still silently grinned to herself. With no hesitation she gave her reply. "I love you, too."

* * *

Later that night, in the little hotel room off the end of Pastoria City, the first nuances of a brilliant plan were formulating in Alec's head. It had came to him whilst watching the live feeds from the video camera they had placed at Lake Valour slowly beam back to the sophisticated equipment they had set up in the hotel room. Faced with watching nothing but the glimmer of the lake and the lazy waving of the leaves, Alec's mind had begun to wander as he thought about the problem he had encountered concerning his sister. He had to get Mai on his team. That was for certain. But he had a problem… a big one. And it was in the shape of Mai's friend. He was a big obstacle… if he attempted to take Mai on again, that boy would be all too quick to interfere. And faced with both of them together, he wasn't altogether sure he could take them both. There had to be some way to separate them, which would leave him easily able to take Mai by herself.

The answer came to him in a glorious flash of inspiration. Such a simple plan, he thought to himself happily. And all he needed to fulfil it was…

"Irina?"

Irina looked up from her paperwork to her partner. He was sitting with his back to her, consulting the live streaming video. "Yes?" She inquired softly, reluctant to anger him.

"I have a request for you, Irina."

"Request, Alec?" she asked delicately.

"Yes, my dear." He said, and Irina could not fail to make out the slippery tone to his voice that always gave away when he was in the middle of concocting something. "It's something very vital to the execution of our plan."

"And what would that be?"

Alec smiled, casually turning away from the live feeds to focus his whole attention on Irina. "In order to get Mai to comply with us, I have figured out the best plan of action."

"Which would be…?" Irina was beginning to get impatient with Alec, but she forced herself to remain calm and pleasant, suddenly terrified of Alec's unpredictable moods.

"It's quite simple, really." Alec surprised her by replying happily. "What is the one thing Mai relies on, even more than her Pokemon, to remain strong?"

Irina blinked, suddenly dumbfounded at the bizarre question. "I… I do not know."

"Of course you do, Irina, of course you do." Alec grinned, slowly rolling a Pokeball in his palm, minimizing and maximizing it idly. He seized the Pokeball, bringing it close to his face, his breath steaming up the metal. "The boy!" he said with relish.

"The boy?"

"Indeed. The boy." Alec nodded. "I believe his name is Kei. He appears to be someone of great importance to Mai. They've been travelling together ever since they were very young. I believe they may even harbour… _feelings _towards one another," he said the word with a notable shudder as if the concept was beyond him. "Very strong ones, in fact."

Irina looked at him blankly. "I do not understand."

"In order to get Mai away from the protection of the boy to allow me to capture her, we must separate them. But not just separate them for a short amount of time. We must separate them _permanently_."

"So, you're saying you want me to dispose of the boy?"

"Nothing so permanent, Irina, not at all." Alec said, shaking his head. "The boy is a good trainer in his own rights. He would be a valuable asset to our cause. Besides, if you abducted the boy it would only make Mai strive to rescue him even more! No, we need to make Mai _hate _the boy so much that she does not even want to be near him!"

"So, how do we do that?"

"Not "we", Irina. You." Alec said with finality. "_You _are going to make this happen."

"How? How am _I_ supposed to make Mai hate the boy? I have never met either of them in my life before!"

"Simple." Alec said with a maniacal grin. "You're going to hit her where it hurts. Her feelings for the boy," he said by way of explanation. "Her feelings for the boy must be totally and completely obliterated. I want you," he focused his eyes on Irina intently. "… to _seduce _the boy…"

"Seduce…?" Irina repeated warily, making sure she had heard her partner correctly.

"Yes," he nodded. "Do whatever you can to get that boy no longer interested in Mai. I don't care _what _methods you use to achieve this, just make sure you get it done."

Irina wanted to sigh at the bizarre mission she had just been given, but forced it back, remembering that she had to stay on Alec's good side. The mission, to her, seemed strange and peculiar and she wondered how on earth she had been reduced to carrying out missions like this. It baffled her, but orders were orders, and if Alec believed that this would work, then she was going to do her best to carry it out effectively.

"I will do it, Alec."

"Excellent," Alec purred, crossing over to Irina to deliver a gentlemanly kiss to her hand. Feeling a peculiar flutter in her heart, Irina almost dared to relax, but Alec raised his head again to her, a look like cold steel reflected in his face. His voice took on a hardened edge, and his eyes narrowed as they touched on hers. "Don't you dare fail me."

With that, he released her hand and walked calmly back towards the television showing the live video from Lake Valour. Irina sat there in the aftermath of Alec's strange behaviour, barely even daring to breathe too loud in case she further upset him.

"_Okay… so operation "seduce the boy" begins now…_"

The reality and perplexity of her mission came back to her, and she sunk her head into the sieve of her hands, wondering how on earth she was going to pull this off…

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Even I have to say this chapter was awfully fluffy and MaixKei shippy (I need to think of a shipping name haha!) but then again, this is a romance story! With Alec's plan to split Mai and Kei apart though, things will begin to pick up with regards to action. **

**Finishing Spirited is gonna be my top priority, so once I update the final few chapters of Spirited, I can focus on this. **

**Oh, there's a new poll on my profile that I'd love you all to take! :) There's also a selection of Facts about the Spirited and Opposites Attract main characters that you can take a peek at. Like, did you know "Mai" and "Kei" are actually nicknames? They have proper, full names but they're never used! I'll give you a cookie if you can guess what they are! :)**

**Sniper Mudkip: I don't know what Kei is gonna do with the Skorupi... maybe he'll keep it on his team, maybe he won't. Even I don't know as of yet..**

**Manser77: Haha, totally different from Spirited, eh?**

**Chaison: Aww, thank you! I must say I enjoyed writing this chapter even though I normally hate writing romance (then why write a romance story, Ocean? *facepalms*)**

**Musa lover: Thank you very much! I don't think Mai owns a Snover, but like she said, she owns at least thirty Pokemon so she's definitely not short! Haha!**

**annabelle the raikou: Awww, you're a sweetheart! I really don't deserve this praise! Thank you very much! **

**Splashstorm: I adore you, like I said :) I love your reviews! I'm sad for the ending of Spirited too, but I hope I can make it up to you all with this fic! **

**Please read and review if you can!**


	18. Old Names and New Faces

A loud, high pitched scream burst and echoed through the small, enclosed clearing on the outskirts of Pastoria City. Mai burst out laughing as Kei's new Skorupi completely ignored his instruction to use Pin Missile on Mai's Raichu, and instead turned on its heel and fired the sharp spikes in Kei's direction instead.

"Owwww!" Kei cried, ripping out a clump of spikes embedded in his arm. "Skorupi! That wasn't what I asked you to do!"

Skorupi hissed madly, its tail rattling.

"Kei, be more _assertive_." Mai said between bouts of hysterical giggles. "Skorupi won't listen to you if you don't act like you're the boss,"

Kei let out a theatrical groan, eyeing his new Skorupi woefully. "I forgot how difficult it was to train a Pokemon from scratch again…"

"Rai-Rai! Raichu!" Mai's Raichu cut in, shooting Kei an angry look.

"See that?" Mai giggled, crossing over to Kei. "Even Raichu is telling you to man up and get on with it," she said.

Kei grinned as Mai approached him. She stopped just shy of their bodies touching. Unable to resist her, he wound his arms around her, pulling her close. "Why would I want to do Pokemon training when I have _you _to distract me?" he murmured into her ear.

Mai giggled as Kei's breath tickled her ear and she couldn't help but pull him close. "Kei…" she grinned as he began gently kissing her neck. She was surprised at his easiness and willingness to touch and embrace her, but at the same time, a bush invaded her cheeks. "Do you really think this is a good idea to do this _now_?"

"Why not?" he grinned. "There's no-one here."

"But Raichu and Skorupi—" Mai protested, catching a glance of an amused looking Raichu and an irate looking Skorupi watching them very intently and suspiciously. A blush tinted her face and she pulled away from Kei, smiling wanly.

"Spoilsport," Kei stuck his long pointed tongue out at Mai.

"Come on, we're meant to be training here," Mai blushed, walking back over to Raichu.

Kei grimaced. "I still don't know what _you__'__re _training for…"

He realised the error of what he'd said too late. He turned a wide eyed stare to Mai, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish and idiotic. However, Mai just smiled at his obvious error. "Come on, Kei. You know why I'm training,"

"Sorry, Mai…" Kei said, his whole face falling.

"It's all right," she said, managing to summon up a weak smile. "I've been thinking about it the past couple of days, you know? It's been what…? Almost two weeks since Alec appeared in Hearthome, right?"

Kei nodded.

"You and I both know he's going to be coming back at some point," Mai said with a little sigh. "I mean, he said it himself that he's gonna be back. I don't know when, and I don't know _where, _but he's stubborn. No matter where I go or what I do, if he wants to find me, he'll find me."

Kei walked up to Mai and put an arm around her, knowing just how horrible this whole situation was to her. "Hey, Mai…" he said, an idea occurring to him as he nuzzled into her black hair. "What about your family? Do they know about what Alec's been doing?"

Mai grimaced at the word "family", instantly wishing Kei hadn't brought up that subject. "I don't know." She said truthfully. "Alec hasn't kept much in contact with my mother, my grandfather _or_my sister. I doubt they would know anything about what he's been doing,"

"Well, don't you think you should tell them?"

"No!" she cried at once.

Kei shot Mai a wan look at her protest. "Mai, you can't keep running away from your family _all_the time,"

"Can you blame me?" Mai said with a sigh.

"Well, yes, actually." Kei said, poking Mai in the side. "Your family's not that bad, Mai. Maybe a little battle-obsessive—"

"A _little_?"

"Okay, a _lot_." Kei corrected himself hastily. "But they're good people. You really should keep in contact more with them. I mean… your dad's already dead, right? You don't wanna wake up one day and realise twenty years have gone by, and you're estranged from your family…"

"I know, I know, Kei…" Mai couldn't help but pull Kei close to her into a hug.

She couldn't help but grow sad at the mention of her father, who had died from complications from an illness not long before Mai's ninth birthday. He had been an exceedingly powerful trainer in his time, standing in for Elite Four members if there was ever a need. He had adored Alec's decision to become a trainer, and had pushed for both Mai and her sister to become trainers, but had tragically died before either young girl had been old enough to embark on it.

"Hey, it's okay," Kei murmured, nuzzling further into Mai.

"I… I think I will phone home," Mai decided reluctantly. "It's been a while. And like you said, if Alec's _really _gone mental, the rest of the family deserve to know…"

Kei smiled, bestowing a long kiss on his girlfriend's soft lips. He knew how difficult this was going to be for her, and he was immensely proud of her for even considering it. "You can do it," he whispered into her ear.

The two trainers recalled their Pokemon, linked hands and began the walk back to the Pokemon Centre in a comfortable silence.

* * *

It took Mai a long time to pluck up the courage to actually dial her home number. She kept her finger hovering over the "call" button, dithering over what to say and how to say it, and running through a million different "what if" scenarios, gradually working herself more and more into a panic. That is, until her finger stabbed the "call" button of completely its own accord. She started to panic as the rings sounded.

She almost dropped with fright when a voice sounded on the other end of the phone. "Hello, Garcia residence!" a bright and breezy tone breathed out.

"Izzy?" Mai burst out stupidly.

"Who _is _this?" The female voice on the other end sounded confused.

"Mai!" Mai said irately.

There was a long silence at the end of the phone.

"Ugh…" Mai cringed inwardly, dreading what it was she had to say next. "Your sister. My… Myleene…"

"Oh! Myleene!" the penny finally dropped for the voice on the other end of the phone. "Wow, it's been a long time, huh?"

"Yeah, it has…" Mai said with a short smile. "What… what are you doing home? I thought you were in Hoenn?"

"I took some time off," she said airily. "The life of Isabella Garcia, contest heroine extraordinaire, is exhausting after too long,"

"Uh-huh…" Mai said, fighting to keep the grimace out of her voice. "You'll always be plain old Izzy to me,"

"Hmph!" the fifteen year old grumbled haughtily. "Anyway, what do you even want, Myleene? What are you phoning for?"

"Izzy, I've told you. Call me Mai!" Mai insisted fervently, hating the name "Myleene" more and more with every instance it was said.

"I hate that name," Izzy deadpanned.

"Well, I like it." Mai said as tetchily as she could manage.

"Hmm. You and those silly nicknames." She huffed. "It was thanks to _you_that Izzy and Alec stuck! And what about your friend? You gave _him _a nickname too." She paused for a moment, as if thinking hard. "What was his name again…?"

"Kei," Mai stated bluntly.

At the mention of his name, Kei gave a start and sat up a little straighter. "What about me?" he mouthed in Mai's direction, but Mai only gestured for him to stay quiet.

"No, no, his _real _name."

"…Kayne." Mai said, after some hesitation.

"Oh yeah, that was him! Kayne Hawkins, right? What a funny sounding name, don't you think? I mean, yeah, we've got posh names, but he just—"

"Izzy." Mai intercepted, her voice firm. "Listen, as much as I'd love to chat with you right now, I _need _to speak to Mum or Grampa. Can you _please _put one of them on the phone?"

Noticing the change in Mai's tone, a sense of worry sprang up in the fifteen year old co-ordinator's body. "Is… everything all right?"

Mai hesitated, wondering if it was really a good idea to mention her worries to her little sister. "It's about Alec—"

"Alexander?" Izzy, who had always had something of a soft spot for their twenty-three year old brother, sounded horrified.

"Yeah," Mai said sadly.

"Is he all right!" she gasped.

"Uhh…" Mai hesitated, wishing she didn't have to break this news to her younger sister herself. She knew all too well the bizarre attachment her younger sister had formed towards their older brother.

Alec had treated both his younger siblings like annoyances, like fleas in his ear, but for some reason, while Mai's relationship with her brother had deteriorated from that treatment, and she viewed him more as a rival than a brother, Izzy had done the exact opposite. Alec's mistreatment of his youngest sister had caused the little girl to cling onto her older brother even more, desperate for his approval. Izzy idolised her brother, her little girl brain convinced it was something _she _had done to garner his disapproval, and had yearned to be accepted by him. She had placed her older brother on a pedestal, and desired his love more than anything. Mai knew this, and it made it all the more difficult for her to say what she had to say.

"Izzy, I'd rather speak to mum…"

"If it concerns Alec, then I want to know!"

"No, Izzy!" Mai said firmly. "Put mum on the phone!"

"Fine!" she said haughtily, before a clatter sounded at the end of the phone and all Mai could hear was Izzy yelling "Mum! Myleene's on the phone!"

A few moments later, the phone picked up again. "Myleene?"

"Hi, Mum…" Mai said guiltily.

"Oh, sweetie!" her mother gushed. "It's been so long!"

"Yeah," Mai said, failing to hide the awkward tone in her voice. "Listen, mum. I've uh… I've got some bad news…"

A gasp sounded at the end of the phone. "What about?"

"Ale…xander." Mai quickly corrected herself, knowing all too well how much her mother also disliked the nicknames she had given to her sister, her brother and herself.

"What happened to Alexander?" her mother shrieked.

Mai sighed. "Better sit down, mum. This is gonna be a long story,"

Kei frowned as Mai began spilling out the entire sorry story to her mother on the phone. He motioned to Mai that he was going to take a walk and left their shared room in Pastoria Pokemon Centre. Stepping out into the cool afternoon air, he decided to take a short walk into the main city and pick up something to eat. He didn't really want to hang around and make Mai feel uncomfortable while she was on the phone.

He stopped in to the local Pastoria City bakery and cake shop and grinned as he saw a selection of rainbow cupcakes, sugar covered donuts, fruit tarts, novelty cakes, iced shaped biscuits and thick wedges of fruit, chocolate and red velvet cake. As he slowly walked up to the display, he could practically feel the saliva forming in his mouth.

The woman at the till could only smile at the young man's antics as he attempted to press his face against the display case, his eyes firmly fixed on a giant chocolate cupcake with a thick chocolate butter icing and a collection of colourful edible stars. He didn't even notice a woman wearing a long, light blue dress from the other end of the shop quickly consult a photo on her phone, smile triumphantly, stow it away and then slowly walk over to join Kei at the display.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" she said softly, leaning down to Kei's level, her eyes on the decorated cupcakes. "Almost too good to eat, don't you think?"

Kei blinked in surprise at the young woman who had suddenly appeared by his side. He had to admit, as he studied her, she was beautiful. She had long, slim, willowy limbs with long brown curls, clear, pale skin and sparkling eyes. For a moment, he was too stunned to say anything, but quickly gathered himself and shrugged. "Uhh… well they're pretty, that's for sure! But I could still eat them all."

The girl smiled, letting out a short giggle. "They're all so delicious I don't know which one I want," she said, and Kei noticed a hint of a strange accent he couldn't recognise in her voice.

Kei nodded, not quite sure what to say. He wasn't used to strangers talking to him out of nowhere, unless he was recognised by his dreaded fangirls and fanboys. But this girl didn't seem to have a clue who he was. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he tried to shuffle away.

"So, are you from around here?" she asked, before he got a chance.

"Uhh…" Kei froze in his movements, and attempted to pass it off by shifting from foot-to-foot. "Not exactly. Kanto, originally."

"Oh," she sounded impressed. "You're a long way from home, then."

"You could say that," Kei said with a smile. He hesitated, before politely adding "And yourself? Where are you from?"

"A… long way away," she said cryptically.

"Huh," Kei said, his eyes and attention still primarily focused on the chocolate cupcake in the display cabinet.

"So, are you a Pokemon trainer?" she asked, taking a step closer to him.

"Oh… uh, yeah." Kei nodded, indicating the Pokeballs slung around his belt.

"Oh!" the girl said with a wide, beaming smile that showed off a set of perfectly even, white teeth. "I'm a Pokemon trainer too!" she cried enthusiastically. She delved into a black bag she wore slung over her shoulder and produced a couple of Pokeballs.

"Oh really…?" Kei murmured noncommittally as she stashed them away again. He was starting to worry over this girl's sudden interest in him. Perhaps she was just being friendly perhaps, but he was confused. People generally didn't come up and talk to strangers, especially him, for no reason.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Been training for twelve years now,"

"Twelve years, huh…?" he said, marvelling at the impressive time scale. "Almost nine years for me,"

"Aww," she sounded a little disappointed. "So you're younger than me, then."

"Uhh…" Kei was flummoxed at the strange statement. "Well, I'm turning nineteen in a few weeks…"

"I'm twenty-two," she said with a short smile. "You look a lot older than nineteen though,"

"Thanks, I uhh… guess." Kei said nervously.

The girl smiled. "So, you got a name?"

"A name?" Kei repeated sceptically.

"Yes, a name." the girl smiled, her whole face lighting up.

"Uh, yeah." Kei stuttered. "It's Kei."

"Kei?" she said incredulously, wrinkling her long, perfectly sculpted nose. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Oh, it's a nickname," he said quickly. "My name's Kayne. Kayne Hawkins,"

"What a strong name," the girl smiled admirably. "You should go by it more often."

Kei blinked in surprise.

She suddenly laughed. "Where are my manners? I'm Irina,"

"Irina, huh." Kei took Irina's proffered hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you,"

"And you," she said pleasantly. "So…" she cast a glance back at the cake displays. "Fancy a coffee or something?"

"Oh, um…" Kei hesitated. "I kind of have to go back—"

"Please?" she asked, her face softening. "I don't know anyone around here. I'm kind of on my own… it would mean a lot,"

"Oh…" Kei said, his face dropping. He had to admit that made him feel a little sorry for her. Maybe that was why she had spoken to him out of nowhere. Maybe she was just lonely and wanted someone to talk to? Kei thought about it. She seemed like a nice enough girl, she was a Pokemon trainer _and _she seemed to like cake. Remembering that it was likely Mai was going to be spending quite some time on the phone to her mother, he figured he could give this lonely girl half an hour of his time. "Well… well, sure. I can spare some time,"

A big grin spread over Irina's face. "Thank you so much, Kayne!"

"It's all right," he said with a short shrug.

"So, what are you having?" she asked, waving her hand in the direction of the display case and the various drinks machines.

"Umm, a hot chocolate, and one of those chocolate cupcake things," he pointed at the cupcake he wanted.

"Sure," she smiled, turning to the woman at the till. "Can I get a hot chocolate, a chocolate cupcake, a cappuccino and a slice of red velvet cake, please?"

"Certainly," the woman smiled, ringing it up.

"Oh, here, I'll give you mon—"

"No, no, don't worry," Irina said, handing over a few notes before Kei could even delve in his pocket for his wallet. "It's the least I can do for you agreeing to keep me company,"

"Oh well, thank you,"

Irina grinned again, and took the two cakes from the cashier, handing the chocolate cupcake to Kei. A few moments later, a steaming cup of hot chocolate was handed to him as well. Already feeling the saliva forming at anticipation of the chocolately goodness, he grabbed a seat in the relatively empty cake shop. He barely waited for Irina to sit down before he tore off the cupcake wrapping and took a deep chomp.

Despite how ridiculous he looked, Irina had to giggle at him. "You really like chocolate, don't you?" she said, cutting into her wedge of red velvet cake with a small fork.

"Mmm I love it!" he said with relish and delight, his mouth full. "So good,"

Another smile crept over Irina's face as she took a slow slip of her cappuccino. As the bittersweet fumes of the coffee tickled his nostrils, Kei inhaled deeply, immediately thinking of Mai. A soft smile took over his face as he thought of her.

"So," Irina said, a few moments later, bringing him back into the present. "You here on your own, then?"

"No," Kei said at once, swilling the contents of his mug of hot chocolate around. "With my girlfriend."

He surprised himself by how easily the word slipped out, and a smile instantly spread across his face. How amazing it felt to say that with such ease and confidence. His _girlfriend. __His _girlfriend. It was probably the singular most beautiful thing he'd ever said in his life.

He was so busy daydreaming over this instance that he didn't even notice Irina's perfectly plucked eyebrows sharply shoot up towards her hairline. "Girlfriend, huh?" she murmured, stirring her coffee thoughtfully. This was a development she hadn't anticipated. "What's her name?"

"Mai," Kei said dreamily.

Irina focused immediately on Kei's face, noting the strange, far-off, dreamy look in his eyes. His entire face was softened and he looked down at the table, not meeting her gaze, evidently deep in thought, It was clear the way the boy felt about the girl. Irina would have cursed openly had she not been fearful of losing the boy's trust. She had to keep the boy sweet, and in her trust and respect if she wanted any chance of fulfilling the task Alec had set her. But with the development of the boy and Mai's relationship, this operation was going to be a lot harder than she had anticipated.

"How long have you been together?" she asked, delicately, as if engaging in light conversation.

"For like two days!" Kei laughed, taking a long sip of his hot chocolate. "We've been travelling together for years, but it's only recently we've kinda… stepped it up, if you know what I mean?"

Irina nodded.

"What about yourself?" he inquired. "Boyfriend?"

The question took Irina by surprise, and she was about to open her mouth to answer truthfully, but she stopped herself just in time. "No,"

"No-one special?"

"No-one at all," Irina said swiftly, spooning up some more red velvet cake.

"That's a shame," Kei said slowly.

"Not really," Irina looked away from Kei's glance. "Men are confusing. They're not worth the trouble sometimes,"

"Maybe you just haven't found the right one?" Kei suggested, swallowing the last of his cupcake and washing it down with a swig of hot chocolate.

"Perhaps…" Irina said, looking away, wondering what had prompted her to reveal those little nuggets of information.

There was silence for a few moments as the acquaintances sipped slowly on their coffee and hot chocolate respectively. Irina snuck tentative glances at the boy sitting opposite her, her mind ticking over on what was the best strategy to adopt. Breaking the boy apart from Mai was going to be a difficult task. Irina knew it would take a lot more time and effort than one coffee date. There was an additional task she had been given by Alec before she had left this morning. The discovery of the Pokemon Kei had in his arsenal. She let out a deep sigh, wondering if there was a way to kill two Pidgey with one stone.

"Kayne?"

Kei took a moment to respond, almost not recognising his own name. He laughed softly as he realised Irina was talking to him and apologised quickly.

"Do you fancy a Pokemon battle, Kayne?"

"A… Pokemon battle…?" he repeated warily, eyeing Irina sceptically, wondering if he had just heard right.

"Yeah," she nodded vigorously. "You said you were a trainer. You've got nine years experience, right? So I know you're gonna be good! I have a lot of difficulty finding people who can keep up with me,"

"Uhh…" Kei stuttered. "M… maybe… I'm not the best one to ask for a big battle. I don't really _like _battling all that much." A thought suddenly struck him. "Oh! But you could battle my girlfriend! She's been battling just as long as I have! She's always on the look out for tough opponents too! I could go get her for—!"

"No, no, no," Irina cut in immediately as Kei stood up. He slowly sat back down again at her protest. "I just… I'd rather battle _you _Kayne."

"Why?" Kei asked, genuinely intrigued. "I don't even _like _battling that much. I'll only ever battle if I really _have _to."

"That's _why _I wanna battle you!" Irina took a stab in the dark. "I get the feeling you're really good, so I want to test myself against you."

"Unnh…" Kei hesitated.

"Come on," Irina begged. "I bought you food!"

"I thought that was for keeping you company…?" Kei asked weakly.

"Can't it be for both?"

"Irina…" Kei hesitated. He was becoming conscious of how long he had been away from the Pokemon Centre. He certainly didn't want Mai coming to look for him and finding him in the company of another girl, who seemed to have taken such an interest in him. He wasn't quite sure what an impact that would have on his fledgling relationship. "I _would _battle you," he said truthfully. "I just have to get back to my girlfriend about now."

"Ohh…" Irina looked a little disappointed. "Raincheck, then?"

"Uh!" Kei stammered. Damn, this girl was persistent. Letting out a sigh, he relented. "Yeah, sure. Why not? When?"

"Tomorrow? At the battle arena near to the Gym? Around two o'clock?"

Kei nodded, knowing resistance was pretty much futile. "Sure. I shouldn't be doing anything at that time."

"Great," Irina leant across and plucked a small white napkin from a nearby table. Producing a pen from seemingly nowhere, she scribbled down something in a neat italic script, before pushing it across the table to Kei.

Kei looked at it. The word "Irina" and a string of numbers stared back at him.

"My phone number, just in case something comes up." She said, with another dazzling grin. Kei felt his heart plummet to somewhere in his stomach as she beamed at him. He watched as she gathered her things, slung her bag over her shoulder and drained the final gulp from her cappuccino. "Well, I better be going. Gotta go back to my hotel. I'll see you tomorrow for that battle, okay, Kayne?"

"Sure…"

"All right!" she said breezily. "Tomorrow at two! Don't be late!"

"I won't…"

"Bye-bye, Kayne!"

She didn't even wait for Kei to reply before disappearing out the door of the cake shop, the bell jingling merrily after her. Letting out a long exhale, still wondering what the hell had just happened, he looked up and caught the eye of the cashier at the display case of cakes. She shot him a sympathetic smile and continued on with her work.

Wondering how the hell he was going to explain this to Mai, he heaved himself onto his feet and approached the cake display again. Quickly, he bought a strawberry tart, a cappuccino and a further chocolate cupcake. He handed over the money, picked up his bagged confectionaries and started on his way back to the Pokemon Centre and his awaiting girlfriend, his mind still preoccupied over the upcoming battle with Irina.

As he trudged back towards the Pokemon Centre, his mind troubled, he failed to notice the slim figure of the very woman that was currently causing him that angst watching him from the shadow of the cake shop. Smiling slightly at Kei's retreating back, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, she realised that she may have achieved more than she had thought.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I AM SO SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME THIS LONG!**

**Umm, I don't really have much to say... oh, apart from the (long-awaited?) reveal of Mai and Kei's real names. Myleene Garcia and Kayne Hawkins :) **

**Thanks to Meta-Akira, Hikaru-pichu, chaison, Padfoot Arcanine, Manser77, Sniper Mudkip, flyingshuriken, PokeWarrior123 and Kiyonora for the reviews!**


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